Irish Commercial Property Investment Exceeds €1 Billion in Q2 2026, Marking the Strongest Q2 in Four Years

Year-to-Date Investment Volumes Reach Approximately €1.5 Billion as Market Demonstrates Resilience Amid Global Uncertainty

CBRE Ireland has today confirmed that provisional commercial property investment volumes in Ireland reached just over €1 billion for Q2 2026. This represents the strongest second quarter since 2022, driven by a large industrial portfolio sale, but supported by healthy activity across sectors. Q2 spend was more than two and a half times the level recorded in Q2 2025 (€381 million). Year-to-date investment now stands at approximately €1.5 billion for H1 2026 – nearly 70% ahead of the same period last year.

Office Sector Recovery Gathering Momentum

The office sector showed encouraging signs of renewed investor appetite in Q2 2026, with the sale of One Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 – one of the city's most prominent office buildings – transacting at €110 million. Sold by Henderson Park to MEAG, the investment management arm of Munich Re, this is the largest single Dublin office transaction since the Salesforce Tower sale in Q3 2022, and a signal of the growing confidence that investors have in the fundamentals of the core Dublin 2 market. Pricing at this scale, to a counterparty of this calibre, points to real conviction in the occupational story underpinning prime Dublin office.

Further office activity in the quarter included the sale of One Haddington Buildings, Dublin 4 for €27.15 million, acquired by Manova Partners on behalf of Mapfre, the Spanish insurance and financial services group, from Deutsche Bank. Total office investment in Q2 exceeded €180 million, representing approximately 18% of Q2 spend.

Residential Investment Revival

The residential sector accounted for approximately 23% of Q2 investment, with strong activity across a number of sub-categories. Most notably, Project Lime, a large social housing portfolio, transacted at €84 million with a domestic buyer. Student housing asset in Dublin 7, LIV Dublin, also transacted in Q2, acquired by Greystar for €40 million, continuing a broader trend of growing institutional investment in the Dublin student housing market. A stabilised off-market PRS asset and a further off-market social housing portfolio also closed in the quarter, bringing total residential investment to €233 million.

Residential investment has staged a clear revival this year. The plentiful availability of debt for the sector, combined with greater regulatory clarity, has brought institutional capital back. Underlying occupier fundamentals have remained strong throughout. A new cohort of investors is active, with a number of further assets expected to come to market in H2.

Horizon Logistics Park: A Landmark Industrial Transaction

The quarter was defined by the sale of Horizon Logistics Park, one of the largest individual property transactions ever recorded in the Irish market. Henderson Park sold the prime logistics campus for €500 million to GIC and Valor, accounting for approximately 50% of total Q2 investment.

The transaction reflects the structural tailwinds supporting industrial and logistics real estate — e-commerce growth, supply chain resilience, and sustained occupier demand across Dublin's prime logistics corridors — and cements the sector as the clear leader for H1 2026 by volume.

Insurance Capital: A Growing Presence in the Irish Market

Q2 2026 saw a notable presence of European insurance and reinsurance capital across office and residential. Acquisitions by MEAG (Munich Re) and Mapfre reflect a structural shift in how continental European insurers are allocating long-term capital. Recent regulatory adjustments and asset-liability matching requirements are increasingly directing insurance capital towards real estate with stable, long-duration income streams. CBRE expects this to deepen through the second half of 2026.

Sectoral Activity: Industrial Leads, Cross-Sector Breadth Remains Strong

• Industrial & logistics is the standout sector year-to-date, accounting for approximately 36% of H1 volumes, the majority of which reflects the Horizon transaction.

• Residential – spanning social housing, PRS, and student living – is the second most active sector at approximately 31% of H1 investment, reflecting the structural undersupply story that continues to drive institutional interest. Office is the third largest sector at approximately 19% of H1 volumes, with nearly €300 million of transactions year-to-date across prime and secondary assets, led by One Molesworth Street.

• Retail also featured in Q2, with the sale of the ILAC Shopping Centre for €45 million to Hammerson by Irish Life, one of the largest retail transactions in recent years. Retail accounted for approximately 6% of Q2 investment.

 

Kyle Rothwell, Head of Capital Markets, CBRE Ireland, commented: 
“Q2 has been a strong quarter across the board. The sale of One Molesworth Street demonstrates appetite for prime office in Dublin at the right price, and the residential sector was very active. What is particularly encouraging is the breadth of buyer profiles — European insurance capital, tier 1 institutional capital, REITs and domestic money all transacting in the same quarter. The market feels meaningfully more liquid than it has over the past couple of years, and the H2 pipeline reflects that confidence.”

Colin Richardson, Director, Head of Research, CBRE Ireland, commented: 
“Despite an increase in interest rates and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, investors have continued to price and deploy capital. While the H1 headline investment number is boosted by a large industrial transaction, the breadth of activity across office, residential, and retail reflects underlying momentum. That investors are willing to transact at scale despite a rise in debt costs is an encouraging signal for the market."

Image of One Molesworth Street, acquired by MEAG in Q2 for €110 million