Commercial Property Market

Posted by The Gutter & Cladding Company on 30th April 2019 -

In the first quarter of 2019, commercial property investment in Central London, alongside the City and West End, rose to £3.2 billion. This is a 28% increase on the same period in 2018, which saw an investment of £2.5 billion. Not only are this quarters commercial property investment figures up on last year, they are also higher than the £3.14 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2015, prior to the Brexit referendum.

Real estate company Savills stated that their outlook of the commercial property market in Central London was positive, despite the current uncertainty. For example, Citigroup’s purchase of the near £1.10 billion EMEA Headquarters at 25 Canada Square in Canary Wharf is a good indication that confidence in the Central London market is strong.

Overseas buyers from the USA have been the most active investors in the Central London market, having accounted for £1.43 billion of transactions – though this included only four commercial properties.

Overall, Savills notes that 2019 figures have accelerated as the year has progressed. Whilst only 15 commercial properties were traded in January and February, 24 were traded in March alone for a total of £2.09 billion.

Head of Central London investment at Savills, Stephen Down, had this to say:

“Despite the well-noted uncertainty hanging over the UK at the moment, this has not stopped a number of commercial property investors from recognising London’s innate strength. Several of them actually see now as an opportunity and the deals that are offered to the market still seem to draw in a healthy level of prospective buyers, both domestic and international. We have seen a particularly strong appetite for commercial development and opportunistic stock, which is a response to the structural supply shortage that Central London is facing in the office sector.”

 

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