Dublin office leasing falls to lowest non-Covid level since 2013 [Video]

The first quarter of 2024 was the worst quarter for office leasing levels in Dublin outside of the pandemic since 2013, research from JLL Ireland has found.

A total of 196,000 sq ft was leased across 31 deals between January and March, down 44% from the previous quarter and 63% below the Q1 average.

Additionally, the average deal size has fallen 56% from the pre-pandemic five-year annual average to 6,346 sq ft, the lowest quarterly volume of space leased since 2013 outside of the pandemic years of 2022 and 2021.

The market has been active though, with occupiers reserving some 800,000 sq ft, up 35.8% quarter-on-quarter and 20% above the average quarterly reserved space in 2023, indicating that the cycle is likely near its bottom.

Vacancy in the Dublin office market increased to 7.3m sq ft or a vacancy rate of 15.4%, up from 14.9% the previous quarter.

When disregarding Grade B and Grade C vacancies and just considering Grade …