International investors spent €2bn on multifamily housing in Dublin between 2014 and 2018, according to a report published by CBRE.
Apartment blocks are the most common type of these residential portfolios.
The report by the global real estate advisor found that multifamily housing is the second largest sector for real estate investment in Europe, with the potential to become the dominant sector.
€52bn of cross-border captial was committed to mutlifamily housing across Europe between 2015 and 2018.
Historically, investment in this sector had been dominated by domestic investors.
While European investors are still responsible for the largest share of the capital flows, the percentage fell from 67% in 2011 to 50% in 2018.
North American investors are the most active capital source from outside Europe, having increased their share of capital flows from 24% in 2011 to 44% in 2018.
Dublin ranks as the tenth most popular destination for cross-border investment of this kind.
The CBRE report also found that more than 40% of investment in Irish real estate in the first half of 2019 comprised residential investment.
Tim MacMahon, Head of Residential Capital Markets in CBRE Ireland, said that: "Thematic drivers such as urbanisation, housing affordability and growing preferences towards renting options are set to continue to drive investor interest into European multifamily housing."
He added that once international investors have a foothold in the European market, "it becomes easier for them to grow their holdings with single assets and spread operations across different European cities.
"Our research shows that there is currently more than €6.3 billion looking to deploy in the Irish market alone," he added.
