Long-Income and Residential Capital Shape the Irish Investment Market, CBRE Ireland Research Finds

A new cohort of institutional buyers, including investors seeking infrastructure-linked assets, marks a structural shift in the character of Irish real estate investment

CBRE Ireland today published its Q2 2026 Investment & Funding Market Update, identifying a significant broadening of the capital base active in the Irish market. Alongside a recovery in overall investment volumes, the report highlights the emergence of a new cohort of buyers pursuing long-income, operationally critical and residential assets — a trend CBRE Research describes as one of the emerging characteristics in this current investment cycle.

Infrastructure-Focused Capital Targets Long-Income Irish Real Estate

One of the most significant themes identified in the CBRE report is the convergence of real estate and infrastructure investment in Ireland. Assets offering long leases, government or quasi-government income streams and inflation-linked cash flows are drawing a new category of capital that has traditionally been associated with infrastructure rather than commercial real estate.

Several transactions in the last year reflect this trend directly. A large European supermarket sale and leaseback with ICG, which included four Irish supermarket assets, exemplifies the growing appetite for essential retail with strong covenants. In healthcare, the sale of a portfolio of Irish assets, valued at approximately €100m, by Cofinimmo to Aedifica as part of a wider European transaction underlines the depth of demand for healthcare real estate with demographic and covenant support and completed in Q1.

Social housing has also attracted significant competitive interest. Project Lime, a social housing portfolio sold by Angelo Gordon for €84m, drew five competitive bids — a level of investor engagement that CBRE Research says reflects the strength of demand for government-backed income streams. Infrastructure capital also assessed the portfolio sales on offer in the Irish market during the quarter, further illustrating the crossover between the two asset classes.

Digital infrastructure investments are in demand across Europe. Dublin doesn’t have direct investable options, but we have seen capital deploy into financing development, e.g. Ares Management has provided €340m in financing for the development of a data centre at Kildare Innovation Campus in H1. And some investors have been acquiring land suitable for data centre development with a long-term hold strategy. The development options for data centres in Dublin and the GDA remain constrained from a power perspective, but some construction is moving ahead in regional locations. 

Shane Cahir, Director of Living and Healthcare at CBRE Ireland, commented:
"We are seeing traditional real estate capital and a new wave of annuity money competing for the same assets — social housing, healthcare, supermarkets, long-income real estate with strong covenants. The number of competitive bids on Project Lime in Q2 illustrates that. The completion of a large supermarket sale and leaseback and a European healthcare portfolio sale, both with Irish exposure, are further evidence of the type of assets this money is chasing. These sectors have moved from being alternatives to more sought after, and the pricing is reflecting it.”

New Residential Investors Signal Emerging Cycle

The residential sector has also seen a material change in the composition of active capital. Regulatory reform, introduced in March 2026, has been the primary catalyst, but CBRE Research notes that there is a increased breadth and diversity of new entrants active.

GIC's investment alongside Beo Residential is among the clearest examples of significant international capital backing domestic residential platforms in a new partnership. Importantly, CBRE Research notes that the depth of new capital extends beyond completed transactions. Underbidders on several live residential processes in H1 have also been new entrants to the Irish market — a signal that the pipeline of active capital is wider than deal volumes alone suggest.

Other new joint venture structures are also emerging as a vehicle for delivering future rental apartment supply: including the Kennedy Wilson and APG partnership, a €2bn platform announced in June that will deliver BTR units across the Player Wills, Bailey Gibson and Clonliffe Road sites in Dublin, represents one of the largest residential commitments seen in the Irish market.

European Insurance Money Active

Among the most notable active capital are European insurance companies. MEAG, the asset management arm of Munich Re, completed two significant Irish acquisitions in H1, purchasing One Molesworth Street for €110m and Seafield Strand, Sutton for €67m, making it one of the most active buyers in the Irish market this year. Mapfre, the Spanish insurer, has also been active, buying One Haddington Buildings on Haddington Road for over €27m, further illustrating the growing appetite among European insurers for core real estate assets. European insurers collectively manage trillions in assets so even a marginal reallocation towards real estate creates capital flows of a scale.

Infrastructure-Linked Asset Classes Attracting Real Estate Capital