Continued expansion by the world’s leading tech companies has pushed Dublin up to third place in a ranking of European cities with the best prospects for investment and development in 2019.

Dublin has risen from seventh last year and 26th position the year before in the list, which is part of the Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2019 report, published this week by PwC and the Urban Land Institute. The report is based on a survey of more than 900 property professionals, including investors, developers, lenders and advisors.

Dublin is ranked the second best prospect for investment in 2019 and is topped only by Lisbon. And it takes fifth spot behind Lisbon, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madrid in terms of development prospects.

In terms of drivers for Dublin's performance, the report notes that Facebook, Google and other tech companies took 43% of office space in Dublin in the first half of 2018, pushing the rolling, 12-month take-up to 3M SF.

Strong local demand has also contributed to office yields compressing to 4% for prime assets, with strong investment from Asia, Europe and the U.S. Office rents have reached €65/SF, but those surveyed felt these may have now stabilised with sufficient development to meet demand.

Along with Amsterdam, Dublin is seen as potentially benefiting from Brexit as a back-office location. Brexit is also a factor in expected strong growth in logistics around the airport and at Dublin Port as exporters and retailers look to rejig their supply chains.

In Europe generally, the report identifies co-living as the top sector prospect for both investment and development in 2019. Logistics facilities and retirement/assisted living are ranked second and third. The top 10 is rounded out by flexible serviced offices, data centres, student housing, private rented residential, serviced apartments, house-building for sale and social housing.