A key property industry figure has said that it is getting increasingly difficult to sell Irish loan portfolios internationally.

Speaking at a Private Equity Real Estate conference, Federico Montero admitted it was "getting tougher and tougher" to sell NAMA assets.

Comparing the current situation to the body's initial success "when it and the UK almost had the market to itself" in 2010, Montero said:

"It is a bit like Spain: if you are investing now, the perception is you are late."

Montero is the head of European loan sales at Cushman & Wakefield and is currently tasked with selling NAMA's Project Ruby and Emerald portfolios, which have a combined face value €4.7bn. In keeping with his comments, it is expected they could fetch as little as €800m.

NAMA revealed this week that it made a profit of €1.8bn in 2015, four times as much as the previous year.