Theoretically, it is clear why it is of interest to investors: the economy is growing, demand is increasing, and then there is the mass arrival of highly paid expats to the country … The market is trying to match.Due to the fact that the most active growth occurs in the housing rental market, in terms of investment attractiveness, residential income-producing real estate is in first place. Dublin has a chronic housing shortage and this imbalance will persist for a long time to come. If during the period of rapid economic growth in the capital of Ireland, the construction of offices was actively carried out, then the volume of housing construction was much more modest, which only increased the disproportion.
It is already clear that the 2020 pandemic will significantly affect the dynamics of new housing commissioning. In the second quarter of 2020, most construction projects were frozen, and even an increase in construction activity in the third quarter did not turn the tide – on an annualized basis, there was still a decline in the commissioning of residential properties by almost 14%.
An additional factor influencing the situation in Dublin is population growth. In 2019, 1.38 million people lived in the capital, five years earlier – 100 thousand less.
New housing is being built to a limited extent, especially in the center. Back in 2019, the professor of economics at Trinity College Dublin, Ronan Lyons, in his study, stated that in order to meet demand, about 500 apartments had to be introduced in Dublin every week (!) for three years. This is completely unrealistic at the moment. For example, in the relatively calm first quarter of 2020 in terms of the pandemic, only 1,658 housing units were commissioned in Dublin.