CMC Capital, a Cork-based property investment division of Crowley & McCarthy Chartered Accountants, claimed the rise in rates could lead to higher returns on commercial property in markets such as Germany, where the firm has placed some 250m in investment from Ireland.

"There is an upside to the European Central Bank's announcement of an interest rate rise, with something positive there for investors in German commercial property, " said Richard Kingston, director of CMC Capital.

"In Germany, most commercial property leases have inflation indexation built in. This means that as inflation rises, rents will increase by at least those levels automatically. One of the drivers of these interest rate increases has been an economic pick-up in Germany, so for Irish investors, exposure to German commercial property is a useful hedge against the impact of the rate increases at home."

The average yield on German commercial property investment stands at 5%-8% a year, CMC said.

"Property prices in Germany have been depressed for several years, but recent economic growth could lead to further rental increases. And they are diversifying away from high risk markets such as the Irish market, where risk increases as the interest rate increases."