Commercial market ''holding up'' - commercial mortgages

04 December 2007

Confidence in the commercial property sector remains respectable and has fallen at a slower pace than confidence in the residential sector, according to a new study.

Smith & Williamson has said that while the percentage of respondents to its study who said they were confident in the residential market fell to just 48 per cent (down from 86 per cent a year ago), 58 per cent remained confident in commercial property.

While this is down from a figure of 91 per cent a year ago, MortgageIntroducer.com has suggested that firms with commercial mortgages could witness a recovery next year.

"[The commercial property figure] supports recent indications that this particular market will thrive going into 2008," the website noted.
Smith & Williamson''s study also noted that there had been a number of major property firm mergers over the past few months.

Last month a study by Royal & Sun Alliance found that a third of the UK''s commercial building stock is now owned by foreign investors.