Commercial property investment in London hits six-year high (UK)

Overseas capital continues to pour into London commercial real estate as volumes hit nearly £20 billion (approx. €24.1 billion)


Investment volumes for 2013 reach £19.9 billion (approx. €23.98 billion), an increase of 47% on 2012 Highest level of Central London investment since 2007 West End witnesses the highest annual turnover figure on record In the City & Docklands, overseas investors remain the most active accounting for 80% of transactions in Q4 Cushman & Wakefield , the world's largest privately-owned real estate services firm , has revealed there were £19.9 billion worth of Central London commercial property transactions in 2013- the highest figure since 2007. This is a 47% increase on 2012's total of £13.5 billion (approx. €16.25 billion).


In the City & Docklands, total investment in Q4 2013 reached £5.6 billion (approx. €6.75 million); this takes total investment for the area in 2013 to £11.9 billion. From a purchaser perspective in Q4, overseas investors in the City & Docklands remain the most active accounting for 80% of market share (£4.5 billion) across 12 transactions. However, this statistic is heavily weighted by the recent purchase of More London by Kuwaiti overseas sovereign fund St Martins (Kuwait Investment Authority) for £1.7 billion and the acquisition of a 50% stake in Broadgate by GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, also for £1 .7 billion. These two transactions are the UK's largest ever commercial property deals. The UK investor market in the City & Docklands was very active in Q4, with 26 purchaser transactions totaling £1 .1 billion; this is 19% of Q4 market volume with an average deal size of £42 million. Total investor volume is hugely reliant of a small number of very large deals such as More London, Broadgate and the St Botolph Building (£464 million).


Source: Cushman & Wakefield


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