Commercial property market ''improving'' - commercial mortgages

08 February 2008

In news which may interest those with commercial mortgages, the head of a property fund subsidiary has said the commercial property market situation is starting to improve.

John Cartwright, who is head of retail and institutional funds at Prupim, a subsidiary of M&G Investments'' property fund, told Citywire he believed several areas of the market were seeing an upturn in fortunes.

Sectors which he said were looking up consisted of high street retail, office space outside London and industrial sites.

Mr Cartwright argued that the overall commercial property situation was aided by the fact that the broader economic picture is far healthier than it was in the early 1990s.

He commented: "Overall, this evidence suggests strongly to us that, whilst not without risks, the economic outlook is far healthier now than in the early 1990s and hence much more supportive to the commercial property market."

Lower inflation, interest rates and unemployment were all elements of this greater present economic health that he identified.

Yesterday, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said the commercial property market in Scotland was now outperforming that of London.