http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...s-Savills.html
Sovereign wealth funds eye UK property, says Savills
Sovereign wealth funds and rich Middle-Eastern investors are circling British commercial property as prices get close to the bottom, according to high-end estate agent Savills.
"The sovereign funds are looking, as are Middle Eastern buyers, and the German funds are still in the market," said Jeremy Helsby, chief executive of Savills.
"People who have made a lot of money over the last few years still have it."
He added that office and retail space let to secure, long-term tenants is attracting 10 to 12 potential buyers when it goes on the market.
Residential property is also becoming increasingly attractive to cash buyers because interest rates at close to zero mean there is little benefit in keeping it in the bank. For foreign investors, the drop in prices combined with sterling's decline mean properties are about 50pc cheaper than they were at the peak.
Mr Helsby said London's house prices "are reaching a bottom", although Savills said it expects prices to fall another 10pc to 15pc. The estate agency added that the volume of transactions this year will be "significantly lower" as result of the difficulty of raising money for mortgages and a reluctance to put houses on the market while prices are low.
In 2008, Savills slumped to a pre-tax loss of £7.7m, from a profit of £85.9m the previous year. Revenue fell 13pc to £568.5m and the estate agent had to write down £42m on the value of acquired businesses and asset impairments.
The company made redundancies and closed offices during the year, and cut its bonus pool in half to £60m, shared between about 7,000 advisers.
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Does anyone fall for this nonsense?
Sovereign wealth funds eye UK property, says Savills
Sovereign wealth funds and rich Middle-Eastern investors are circling British commercial property as prices get close to the bottom, according to high-end estate agent Savills.
"The sovereign funds are looking, as are Middle Eastern buyers, and the German funds are still in the market," said Jeremy Helsby, chief executive of Savills.
"People who have made a lot of money over the last few years still have it."
He added that office and retail space let to secure, long-term tenants is attracting 10 to 12 potential buyers when it goes on the market.
Residential property is also becoming increasingly attractive to cash buyers because interest rates at close to zero mean there is little benefit in keeping it in the bank. For foreign investors, the drop in prices combined with sterling's decline mean properties are about 50pc cheaper than they were at the peak.
Mr Helsby said London's house prices "are reaching a bottom", although Savills said it expects prices to fall another 10pc to 15pc. The estate agency added that the volume of transactions this year will be "significantly lower" as result of the difficulty of raising money for mortgages and a reluctance to put houses on the market while prices are low.
In 2008, Savills slumped to a pre-tax loss of £7.7m, from a profit of £85.9m the previous year. Revenue fell 13pc to £568.5m and the estate agent had to write down £42m on the value of acquired businesses and asset impairments.
The company made redundancies and closed offices during the year, and cut its bonus pool in half to £60m, shared between about 7,000 advisers.
=========================================
Does anyone fall for this nonsense?
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