Investment in the Central London commercial property market
reached £20.5 billion during 2014, only slightly less than the peak
of £20.6 million, reached in 2007.

The range of money coming into the London real estate market
from both the UK and abroad looks like it will continue in
2015.  According to data from global real estate adviser
Cushman & Wakefield, demand is still far outstripping available
supply.

A breakdown of the findings currently show that investment
volumes in both the City of London and the Docklands reached just
over £5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014: this is the highest
quarterly volume ever recorded in the market.

Half of all the investment outcomes in the final quarter of the
year were as a result of three main transactions in excess of £250
million each.  48 per cent of all 2014 investment volumes were
due to 10 transactions above this threshold.

The increasing number of investors and surging volumes of equity
are being invested into the City of London market, with interest in
particular coming from a wide cross-section of investors, in
particular the world's largest sovereign wealth funds.

Overseas investors remain the most active in terms of
transactional investment volumes, which currently account for 78
per cent of both the fourth quarter and annual total.  2014
also witnessed positive net investment from both Asia and the
Middle East.  Due to exceptional demand, the market yields are
being driven down for all investments with prime at 4.25 per cent
to 4.5 per cent.  Several transactions, though, have completed
below four per cent, most notably the Gherkin.

 

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