There are not enough Dublin hotels on the market to satisfy the volume of demand from international investors, according to one of Ireland’s leading commercial estate agencies.

CBRE says the Irish commercial property market has experienced its busiest January and February period for many years. It said much of this was accounted for by a significant carryover of property deals from last year, when several large portfolios were put on the market towards the end of the year.

While Dublin still dominates in terms of investor interest, the CBRE report says some investors appear to be getting more confident about opportunities elsewhere “on the basis that the clear recovery experienced in the prime market is now starting to filter out somewhat”.

It highlights the hotel market as particularly active at present, with supply not sufficient to meet investor demand.

Pub sector

“We expect the process of deleveraging to pick up pace considerably over the coming months with several well-known hotels due to come available for sale, albeit, with the exception of the

sale of the five-star Westin Hotel in Dublin city centre, most of these hotels are outside Dublin," the agency said.

It also expects increased business in the pub sector over the coming months as more premises that have fallen into the hands of receivers are put back on the market.