LSH: Investment tally strong in Q3
Investment deals during the third quarter of 2015 reached £709m in the North West, more than double the previous quarter’s total, according to Lambert Smith Hampton.
The latest edition of LSH’s UK Investment Transactions report revealed that across the UK, regional activity during Q3 exceeded that in London for the first time in 12 months.
Key North West deals in the three-month period included the acquisition of Houndshill Shopping Centre, Blackpool, by Frontier Properties for £105m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.5%; Deutsche Asset & Wealth’s purchase of 2 St Peter’s Square, Manchester, for £100m from one of Fred Done’s property companies; and LaSalle Investment Management’s acquisition of Snipe Retail Park for £62m, at a yield of 6.75%.
Abid Jaffry, director and head of capital markets at Lambert Smith Hampton Manchester, said: “While UK institutions were the largest net investors into the North West commercial property market, accounting for 40% of total investment volumes in Q3, there has also been a notable rise in interest from overseas investors, which accounted for 38% of the total activity in the region.
“The figures for the North West commercial property market are very encouraging and we are seeing an increasingly bullish market with volume far outstripping that of competing markets. We will end 2015 on a high note and this can only improve as we go into 2016.”
The national picture saw investment in the UK commercial property sector during the third quarter of 2015 reach £12.8bn, according to the UKIT report. Although this represents a 23% decline on the previous quarter, the third successive quarter in which volumes fell, investment for 2015 as a whole may just eclipse the record of £61.7bn set last year. Investment for the year to date currently stands at £48.5bn.
