Spencer enjoys return to buyers’ market with Q1 flurry
Merseyside-based industrial investor Spencer Holdings acquired five sites for £16.7m in the first quarter as it exploited weaker prices brought on by the downturn in the market.
Spencer bought sites totalling 274,611 sq ft including: Everitt Close in Wellingborough; Arkwright Road in Corby, Righead Park in Bellshill and Spring Meadow Trading Estate and East Point Industrial Estate both in Cardiff.
Jim Spencer, chairman of Spencer Holdings, said: "It's certainly a buyer's market. Tighter credit conditions have resulted in a downturn in the number of buyers willing and able to make purchases. Capital values have fallen as a result and as institutional funds look to sell we are in a position to buy sites at extremely competitive prices."
Spencer Holdings recently secured £200m funding from Bank of Scotland Real Estate in Liverpool. The company aims to grow its national property portfolio from 5m sq ft to 6m sq ft.
Spencer added: "The short-term expectation is that prices will continue to soften over 2008, but the extent of those falls will probably be subdued. The valuation case for UK commercial property is starting to return and soon the big funds will stop selling and come back into the market to buy."
