Insurance News Archive
Investors being "selective" in commercial market
Property investors are being careful with their moves in the commercial sector, according to an international property advisor.
Matt Oakley, head of commercial research at Savills, said that buyers are looking for properties which have a "strong prospect for upward rental growth for the future".
This new trend replaces a more gung-ho attitude to the market, where Mr Oakley said investors could "buy anything, do nothing to it and a year later it will be worth more".
A recent report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said that the number of commercial properties sold at auction fell sharply in the first quarter of 2007, which Mr Oakley believes is symptomatic of the change to a more "selective" attitude from investors.
"Our view on the commercial property investment market in general is that, in terms of turnover, last year was probably the peak of the market in the volume of deals," Mr Oakley said..
However he did not predict hard times ahead for the market as he expected investors to continue to spend above the long-term average in the next five years, just not the same record levels as the last two.
29 Jun 2007
