Press Release Summary = The UK is currently riding the crest of a commercial property price wave that is seeing record prices and investors from overseas looking to spend their money in the British market. Last week it emerged that, outside the traditional metropolitan powerhouses of London, Birmingham and Manchester, smaller and more usually overlooked areas are also beginning to see a rise in commercial property prices - and in rental yields.
Press Release Body = The UK is currently riding the crest of a commercial property price wave that is seeing record prices and investors from overseas looking to spend their money in the British market. Last week it emerged that, outside the traditional metropolitan powerhouses of London, Birmingham and Manchester, smaller and more usually overlooked areas are also beginning to see a rise in commercial property prices - and in rental yields.
Towns such as Darlington, Stockport and Reading were tipped as places to consider for a commercial property investment, as they are benefiting from good transport links and a well-developed infrastructure. Despite all the positive news however, some market operators - as will happen in any boom period - are already beginning to fear a crash and are viewing property prices anxiously.
According to Matt Oakley of property consultants Savills, investors need not fear. He says that property prices have reached an all-time high and, although the market may well have peaked, it is not going to see a significant decline any time soon.
\"I think undoubtedly prices on assets that are not going to deliver above-average rental growth going forward will fall over the next four or five years,\" he says, adding: \"Yields are going to soften on secondary property in most sectors of the market\". However, investors should not worry that there will be no demand for their portfolio, according to Mr Oakley, as \"prime property is stuff the tenants want to be in, and will want to be in in five years time\".
However, one analyst at least is predicting a downturn in the commercial property market. Gerald Ronson, of Heron International, thinks that there could be \"challenging times ahead\" for the sector. He told Finfacts.com that investors are operating in a climate of \"over-confidence\". According to Mr Ronson, property fund manage are going to find it \"increasingly difficult to operate\" in an environment driven by high prices and market pressure.
In a report released this week, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said that a \"buoyant\" commercial property market has been propping up the construction industry. In fact, prices are so strong in the domestic commercial property market that some British investors are now looking abroad, with Europe the preferred target for many. There is also evidence that some investors are being more creative, choosing to fund less obvious projects such as care homes for the elderly.
2025
