Brexit-spooked UK companies need to talk to this Irish man

In what must have been one of his last acts with MSCI (or Morgan Stanley to you and me) in London before he returns home to a new role with stockbroker Goodbody, Irish man Colm Lauder was involved in the release of figures suggesting that Britain's decision in June to leave the EU has had an immediate negative impact on real estate.

UK real-estate values fell by 3 per cent in July from the previous month, the biggest drop since March 2009, according to a monthly index from MSCI.

The biggest losses were in central London office buildings, where values fell by 3.8 per cent.

The one-month drop in values, post-Brexit, was described as "very significant" by Lauder, vice-president at MSCI, in an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

If this trend continues for months or years, “you’re talking about taking a significant chunk off values”, Lauder added.

Central London offices taking the biggest hit is perhaps a signal of the impact Brexit might have in the years ahead on London’s main financial district.

The WSJ noted that if companies based in the UK are prohibited from selling services in the EU, they could relocate to other cities in Europe "like Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam or Dublin".

If so, they might want to seek out Lauder once he sets up base in Goodbody. Currently on gardening leave from MSCI, he is expected to join Goodbody in October and lead its equity research of the real estate sector.

This will include residential companies such as Cairn Homes and Kennedy Wilson Europe and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), of which there are three listed on the Dublin market (Green, Hibernia and IRES).

Just the kind of people with whom companies considering upping sticks from the UK might want to chat about relocating here.