Decline in commercial property investment

20 July 2011

Written by Simon Whittaker

Commercial mortgages and other investments into office and retail space fell during the second quarter of 2011, new research has revealed.

In this period, £6.6 billion was spent in this market, 24 per cent less than the previous three months and 11 per cent lower than the same quarter last year, Jones Lang LaSalle discovered.

Prime London office space has continued to grow, particularly in the City and West End regions, but the amount of available land has contracted, a situation expected to continue until the end of the year.

However, there is a large difference between the capital and regional markets.

Head of EMEA capital markets research for the firm Robert Stassen commented that "69 per cent of all transactions in [the office] sector in Q2 were in central London".

"Regionally, we are seeing a lack of product across all commercial property sectors," he said.

This follows chief executive of Lambert Smith Hampton Ezra Nahome's statement during a Property Week webinar that there could be commercial property investment opportunities in some of the regional markets.

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