The returns on prime office property in Dublin far outstripped those available throughout Europe in the past year, in spite of a boom in the European office market. Total returns on prime office space in Dublin in the year to the end of June amounted to an annualised gross of 72 per cent, according to research carried out by Jones Lang LaSalle.

The overall return is a combination of a growth in capital values of 68 per cent and a growth in rents of 59 per cent. The research found that growth in the office market throughout Europe in the second quarter of 2000 was the strongest in this cycle.

"Rental and capital value growth in the second quarter reached levels not seen for a decade, resulting in the highest annualised gross return for Europe since 1990 of 22 per cent against an average of 6 per cent per annum since 1990." Trailing after Dublin were Madrid with a total return of 37 per cent, Milan with 32 per cent and Stockholm with 31 per cent.