Estate agent Hamilton Osborne King says 30% of new homes sold in 2005 have been purchased by non- nationals, compared to 5% two-three years ago.
The property firm said there were a number of categories of these mostly first-time buyers - Europeans, those from China, India and the Philippines, those from Eastern Europe, and the remainder from South Africa and the US.
Hamiliton Osborne King said that the Irish commercial property investment market will hit €1.3 billion this year, with office market completions in 2005 double that of 2004.
Turnover for the Irish commercial property investment market reached €1 billion for the first time in 2004 and Hamilton Osborne King predicts it will reach €1.3 billion in 2005.
Meanwhile the total number of house completions for the first nine months of 2005 came in at 54,394, an increase of 0.4% on the same period last year.
Announcing the figures, the Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal Noel Ahern said that completions for the full year will be broadly similar to the record level achieved last year, which was 76,954 units.
There was a slight pick up in the third quarter, which showed 4.8% more houses built, when compared to the same three months in 2004.
There were 12,555 units built in Dublin and in the Greater Dublin area there were 19,023 built - which was an increase of 3.3% and 2.3% respectively on last year.
House completions in Cork came in at 6,172, in Wexford at 2,283, and in Donegal 2,463 units were completed in the nine months.
