Dublin slides down list of European cities for potential investment, study says

Dublin slipped to 17th place for potential investment and development in a ranking of 30 cities across Europe, according to a new study. It dropped from 13th position in the previous report.
The results are from the Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2025 report by PwC and the Urban Land Institute, a non-profit education and research institute. The 1,143 respondents said Dublin’s lack of infrastructure and complex planning laws were factors in their decision. However, the survey acknowledged the steps being taken to change this.
Audit partner on the real estate team at PwC Joanne Kelly said the reasons for Dublin falling down the list could be separated into two categories. “The infrastructure deficit is beginning to bite,” she said, listing the lack of housing, energy and water infrastructure as key issues.
The second category is tax policy and regulation changes such as alterations in both stamp duty and Central Bank rules in real estate leverage. “The scale of change here over the past year has been quite high,” she said.
Overall, the top three cities surveyed for future investment were London, Madrid and Paris, respectively. London was unchanged, and Paris and Madrid have swapped places since the 2024 report. The report cites data from Oxford Economics showing the strengthening economies in southern Europe, with estimated GDP growth of 2 per cent for Madrid, coming through in the rankings.
More than 70 per cent of respondents highlighted the environment as a key concern in the coming year. Some 72 per cent of people said climate change would be a concern for them in the next five years. To help tackle ESG (environmental, social and governance) concerns, Ms Kelly said the industry planned to repurpose buildings, such as turning old office buildings into redeveloped ESG-compliant establishments.
Outside of environmental challenges, another concern was cybersecurity, standing at 59 per cent of respondents. The digital theme continued as digital transformation and artificial intelligence were also mentioned, standing at 42 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.
On a European scale for 2025, the top three sectors for overall future growth are data centres, new energy infrastructure and student housing, respectively. Five out of the top 10 sectors identified in Europe for future growth include living developments.