Who invests in the Irish commercial real estate market?: An overview of non-bank institutional ownership of Irish CRE

Real estate markets are important to the financial sector and the economy as a whole, due to their size and interconnectedness. While data availability in respect of banks’ real estate exposures and the risks involved in property-related lending by the banking sector have been examined extensively, the same cannot be said of the growing role of the non-banking sector in the property market. By drawing together a variety of internal Central Bank of Ireland sources with data published by external bodies, this Financial Stability Note aims to help address existing gaps in data and knowledge surrounding the involvement of non-bank entities in the Irish commercial property market. A detailed breakdown of domestic CRE ownership, along institutional lines is provided for the first time, showing the dominant role of real estate investment funds (REIFs), and to a lesser extent, real estate investment trusts (REITs), insurance corporations and pension funds. The funding profiles of REIFs and REITs are explored. This reveals that as much as half of their liabilities originates from abroad. Evidence surrounding the existence of interlinkages between REIFs, REITs and the Irish banking sector is also presented. Finally, potential financial stability risks arising from these connections, current ownership structures and funding practices, are briefly discussed.