Could 2026 finally unlock investment? JLL thinks so.
Transaction volumes across Ireland’s commercial real estate market could reach €4B this year, with improving fundamentals, returning investor confidence and renewed activity across key sectors, according to JLL Ireland’s annual market outlook.
In its latest research, JLL pointed to a stabilising environment underpinned by lower and more predictable interest rates, easing trade uncertainty and sustained economic growth. Together, these factors are expected to support increased transaction activity and clearer pricing through the year ahead, JLL forecast.
JLL expects total real estate investment volumes in Ireland to achieve between €3.5B and €4B in 2026, significantly up from approximately €2.44B in 2025, as more assets come to market and deferred transactions complete.
The report identified the living sector as the “defining theme” for 2026, driven by Ireland’s acute housing shortage, with investment in living assets showing early signs of reengagement in 2025.
It expects momentum to build through 2026 as regulatory clarity improves and lending conditions ease, with living anticipated to become Ireland’s largest real estate investment category by the end of the decade.
New supply across asset classes is expected to remain constrained in 2026, particularly in prime locations, which is likely to support rental growth for best-in-class assets while accelerating the need for retrofit and repositioning of existing buildings. In Dublin’s office market, where more than 70% of stock was built before 2010, asset repositioning will be increasingly central to value creation.
Ireland’s capital markets are also seeing improving liquidity, greater sector diversification and renewed international interest, JLL argued, as it also picked out industrial and logistics assets to see a notable uplift in activity in 2026.
However, JLL cautioned that the next phase of the real estate cycle will be defined by greater complexity, with performance varying significantly by sector, asset quality and location.
“As we enter 2026, there is a growing sense that the market is moving into a more structured phase after a prolonged recovery cycle,” JLL Ireland CEO John Moran said in a statement.
“Capital is becoming more selective, gravitating towards sectors underpinned by structural demand and long-term fundamentals. As clarity improves, opportunity is beginning to re-emerge.”