New figures show that Dublin office activity has responded strongly in the third quarter of 2021 after a cautious first half of the year due to Covid restrictions.
Property advisor Savills Ireland said that office take-up reached 396,000 square feet in the three months from July to September with a total of 42 deals completed.
Savills said while this is well below the long-term average of 668,000 square feet per quarter, it is a marked improvement on the 23,000 and 147,000 square feet which were transacted in first and second quarters of the year.
Today's figures show that a total of 566,000 square feet has been transacted for the year so far.
Historically Savills said that the third quarter of any year tends to be a quieter quarter as the summer hiatus reduces transaction volumes.
But growing optimism has put this quarter's total above the third quarter of both 2019 and 2020.
Savills also reported encouraging signs that the market is strengthening as occupiers start to have more clarity on the post pandemic working world and government restrictions start to loosen.
The largest deal of the quarter was financial services firm BNP Paribas' 37,000 square foot lease in Termini building in Sandyford.
Accenture has the second largest deal of the quarter with its lease of Building 10 in Cherrywood, followed by DLA Piper with an office in Molesworth Street.
Savills said that South Dublin and the wider suburban market have seen a strong quarter as it makes up nearly 50% of taken space as opposed to approximately 22% of the reserved stock.
Shane Duffy, Director of Offices at Savills Ireland, said that after a dismal first six month period, the transactional evidence in the third quarter of the year has been very encouraging for the office market.
"By and large, headline rents have held firm as the flight to quality among occupiers becomes more evident. Occupiers are focused on securing the best options on the best achievable rental terms in line with growing ESG focus," Mr Duffy said.
He said that weekly viewing tallies throughout September have been higher than at any stage in 2019, representing a clear pent-up demand across the market.
"Most notably however, this quarter saw the emergence of three new requirements above 100,000 square feet illustrating that the demand for office space among larger occupiers still remains strong," he added.
