Two commercial agents release their quarterly office bulletins this week - with diverging views on how the market performed. DTZ Sherry FitzGerald says the office market "failed to improve" during the second quarter of 2004 while CB Richard Ellis Gunne reports "a boost in activity in the Dublin office market in the first six months of the year".

Sherry FitzGerald calculates the total accommodation take-up in the first six months of this year as standing at 53,900 sq m (580, 174 sq ft), only 2 per cent more than in the same period last year.

But CB Richard Ellis Gunne is reporting a total office take-up this year of 79,351 sq m (854,126 sq ft).

DTZ Sherry FitzGerald says the IT and telecommunications sectors were responsible for the majority of take-ups since the beginning of the year, reflecting an improvement of confidence in the economy.

But it says the availability of space rose by 6 per cent during the three-month period to 413,500 sq m (4.45 million sq ft) as a result of new builds being released onto the market.

Around 73 per cent of the 26,100 sq m (280,937 sq ft) taken up this quarter was located in the suburbs, with only 18 per cent taken up in prime areas of city. CB Richard Ellis Gunne believes the anticipated recovery in the Dublin office market is finally in sight. It says that following two years of depressed market conditions, improved economic prospects and low interest rates are attracting foreign direct investment to Ireland, which bodes well for the Dublin office market.

Prime rents remain steady at €480 per sq m (€44.60 per sq ft), but CB Richard Ellis Gunne predicts that inducements to attract tenants will become less prevalent in the city centre market; it says the suburban market may take longer to recover.