A new report from Savills surveying Ireland’s property investment market has found that the square foot equivalent of one-third of Dublin’s entire office stock has changed hands in the past four years.

In Dublin's Central Business District this figure rises to 42%.

Between 2013 and 2016, the aggregate value of office investment transactions in Dublin amounted to almost €6.3bn.

Dr. John McCartney, Director of Research at Savills Ireland commented: "Given the nature of our economy, which is increasingly based on technology and business services, office space is a critical factor of production. During the economic crisis office blocks could be picked-up cheaply and this caused assets to be traded at a ferocious rate.

"Now that the economy is back on a strong growth trajectory the appeal of these assets has widened and core institutions such as pension funds and REITs have become key buyers," he added.

The report observes that the recovery in Ireland’s consumer economy has lagged behind the recovery in the corporate sector. This meant that retail property investment took longer to re-ignite after the crash and investment spending on retail assets increased steadily over the last four years.

"Notwithstanding the continued opportunities for investors to develop their own buildings, to forward-fund developments and to purchase re-trades, more normalised supply levels will see investment settle back to a sustainable €2.5bn-€3.5bn per annum over the coming years," Savills said in a statement.