Savills predicts that the total volume of commercial real estate transactions in central London during 2017 will exceed £20 bn (€22.8 bn) and may end the year higher than the previous record level set in 2014 of £21.6 bn (€24.7 bn).
The international real estate advisor says that commercial property transactions in central London in the first three quarters of this year reached £14.22 bn (€16.23 bn), with buyers originating from more than 27 different countries. With the average final quarter turnover in the last five years being £6.6 bn(€7.6 bn), Savills says this puts 2017 volumes on track to easily exceed the £20 bn threshold.
'2017 could be a record breaking year for London investment, and at the very least, volumes look set to break the symbolic £20 billion barrier,' commented Stephen Down, executive director and head of central London investment at Savills.
'UK real estate, particularly prime assets with strong income streams in the capital, continues to appeal to a broad spectrum of international investors, while outside this sphere of interest there is also demand from a broad professional investor base so long as properties are priced correctly.'
If the last quarter follows previous patterns, this would put 2017 volumes significantly ahead of the long-term annual average of £14.4 bn (€16.5 bn), and well up on 2016, when £15.9 bn (€18.1 bn) was deployed into central London commercial property, Savills concluded.
