Our monthly property market review is intended to provide background to recent developments in the property markets as well as to give an indication of how some key issues could impact in the future.
Overview
WORKSPACE, CO-WORKING AND SERVICED OFFICE DEMAND REMAINS STRONG
In Savills latest ‘Commercial Outlook – Six Trends for 2019,’ they reveal that London was one of the most popular destinations for crossborder commercial property investment between 2016 and 2018. They add that customer experience is the driving factor and landlords who look after their tenants are thriving, in relation to both short-term or long-term rentals.
FOREIGN BUYERS CONTINUE TO DRIVE LONDON MARKET
Of the £20bn of investment into the London commercial property market during 2018, 90% came from overseas buyers, defying fears that the protracted Brexit deliberations would dampen the market.
RETAIL SECTOR LANDLORDS FEAR FOR 2019
The retail sector has endured a poor Christmas season, adding to its already declining footfall. Consequently, landlords fear the worst as major retail chains battle to maintain their sales margins, just as those landlords attempt to maintain the rental values of prime retail sites they own.
MORTGAGE ACTIVITY
“A mixture of competitive deals and schemes including Help to Buy saw even more first-time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder during November.” – Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance
HOUSE PRICES HEADLINE STATISTICS
- UK house prices grew by 2.8% in the year to November 2018, up slightly from 2.7% in the year to October 2018
- The strongest annual growth in house prices was in the West Midlands, increasing by 4.6% in the year to November 2018
- House prices in London fell by 0.7% in the year to November 2018. London house prices have been falling over the year each month since July 2018.