Commercial property values will hold up as economy slows, say Irish CEOs

Seventy five percent of Irish chief executives polled in the 10th annual survey of the Top 1,000 CEOs by property advisor CB Richard Ellis said they were less optimistic about Irish economic prospects in the short to medium term than they were 12 months ago. Some 52% of survey respondents said they expected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of between 0% and 3% to be achieved in Ireland in 2008, while 47% of respondents expected growth of between 3% and 6% for next year. No Irish chief executives expected growth of more than 6% in Ireland in 2008.

Just under 40% of the Irish CEOs polled said they expected commercial property values to increase slightly over the next three years. Some 25% expect commercial property values to remain at current levels while 24% expect commercial property values to decrease slightly over the next three years. Just 5% expect commercial property values to decrease significantly over the next three years.

CBRE said 45% of survey respondents expect the Dublin office sector to outperform other sectors of the Irish commercial property market over the next three years while 20% expect the Dublin retail sector to produce the strongest returns in this period.