Irish commercial property has continued its downward spiral in Q3 2009, according to data from IPD, as total returns were on all property was -6.7% for the quarter, down from -6.1% in Q2.

The office market in this quarter saw the biggest decline with total returns of -6.8% and a fall in market values of -8.7%. The retail sector had a return of -6.5%, making it the only sector which showed a deceleration in negative returns after seeing -8.3% in the previous quarter. Grafton Street in Dublin was the hardest hit retail location as its total returns for the year to September 2009 were -40.6% in comparison with all property returns of -33.9%.

Angela Sheahan, IPD head of indices, said: “The Q3 results show a mixed picture with the decline in values in Office and Industrial accelerating while Retail appears to have hit the bottom of the curve and started to improve. The year-end results will be very interesting to see if things continue to deteriorate or if we have reached the inflection point.”

Capital values have fallen -53% since their peak in September 2007.