Commercial property deals slump by two thirds in six months

There were only 281 transactions in the commercial property sector in the past six months, a 67 per cent half-on-half decline, new research has found.

Meanwhile, the total value of transactions has fallen by 73 per cent to £3.7bn.

Debt advisory specialists Sirius Property Finance looked at the volume, total value and resulting average value of commercial property transactions in the UK over the last six months, and compared the numbers to those from the six months prior.

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The data revealed that office space transactions have seen the greatest decline, falling by 75 per cent. This was followed by the retail and leisure sector (down 68 per cent), and industrial transactions (down 57 per cent).

“There’s little ambiguity in these numbers, the commercial market is enduring a difficult period as a result of the UK’s wider economic struggles,” said managing director of Sirius Property Finance, Nicholas Christofi.

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“But there’s a good chance that these recent declines are also the result of seasonal influences. The summer is a quiet time for the property market in general, so this may be causing more drastic declines that we’ve previously seen.

“With the arrival of autumn, which is a real period of boom for the market, we’re hopeful that the numbers will start to show improvement, especially if the economy continues to show signs of recovery as it has recently been.”

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