This year has seen a marked reduction in property investment, with €1.5 billion spent as compared to €3.6 billion in 2006, according to Jones Lang LaSalle's end of year review and outlook.
The real estate services and money management firm says it expects to see €2 billion invested this year, but insists that the lower than expected total is fine, considering the current economic climate.
The review said that Irish investment in overseas property remains strong, with an outlay of €8.21 billion. That is expected to increase to between €9 billion and €9.5 billion in 2008.
Commercial property values grew by more than 8%, which is considerably less than the 30% recorded last year but far ahead of the more than 30% drop suffered by the equities market.
In his commentary, John Mulcahy, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, called on the Government to cut stamp duty.
He said that a rate of 9% was manageable in a 'raging bull market', but that stamp duty must now move closer to the current inflation rate of around 2%.
Mr Mulchahy also said that sellers will have to be careful to get their pricing right as the market continues to slow.
