Forecast Says The Only Way Is Up For Irish Rents And Values

Rents and prices for prime office, retail and industrial properties are expected to rise over the coming 12 months, according to a survey by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland.

In its Mid-Year Commercial Property Review and Outlook Report 2025, surveyors effectively called the bottom of the market and indicated tentative signs of recovery across the sector, following years of declines.

Just more than half of the property specialists surveyed said they believe the market is now in some stage of recovery or upswing. Of those, a third predicted an early recovery, while 18% saw the market in a mid-upturn phase.

Chartered commercial and valuation surveyors predicted that prime office capital values and rents will increase by 2.1% and 2.6%, respectively, while they forecast prime retail capital values will increase by 1% and rental values by 1.8% on average. 

In all, 54% of surveyors forecast that the capital values of prime offices will increase and a third expect them to remain the same, while 56% said they anticipate a rent increase.  

By contrast, for secondary offices, only 14% expected the capital value to rise, and the proportion forecasting a rental uptick was just 21%. While 47% expect capital values to remain the same, 39% said they will fall.

Eighty-six percent of chartered surveyors said tenants will increasingly demand enhanced health and well-being features, with 68% saying occupiers would be prepared to pay a premium for such facilities.  

For prime industrial properties, 50% of surveyors said they expect the capital value to increase, and 51% anticipate an increase in rental values. 

For prime retail spaces, 34% of surveyors expected capital values to increase over the next 12 months, while 48% anticipated an increase in rental values. However, 59% for capital and 45% for rental said these values will remain the same.  

“We are seeing strength in key areas, particularly in the industrial segment, where demand remains robust, and in prime office and retail assets, where quality and location are driving selective growth,” SCSI President Gerard O’Toole said in a statement.

The survey also showed that sentiment has improved markedly compared with 2023, when 61% of agents believed the market was expensive or very expensive. That figure has now dropped to 31%, while 57% described valuations as fair.