Cross-border investors accounted for 71% of the £2.75 bn (€3.2 bn) of real estate investment in Central London during the first quarter of 2013, Cushman & Wakefield said.
Cross-border investors accounted for 71% of the £2.75 bn (€3.2 bn) of real estate investment in Central London during the first quarter of 2013, Cushman & Wakefield said.
However, the volume for Q1 represented a decline of 31% on the previous quarter, when just under £4 bn was transacted, due to lack of available product, particularly in the West End.
By contrast, the City & Docklands districts saw a robust start to 2013 with almost £1.8 bn of investment volumes in 22 transactions. The average lot size came to £80.5 mln.
Overseas investors remain the predominant investor group in the City & Docklands with £1.56 bn of market volume (88%) in nine transactions (average transaction size £175 mln). UK-based investors carried out 13 transactions, amounting to a total volume of almost £210 mln, but the average transaction size remains small at £16 mln.
Investors from North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East make up almost 75% of the purchaser activity by monetary volume (26%, 27% and 22% respectively).
Total volumes, Cushman & Wakefield said, remained heavily reliant on a small number of transactions with just four transactions - amounting to £1.35 bn - accounting for 75% of overall volume. In almost a perfect continental balance, the buyers in these deals were from North America, Europe (Germany), Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
The largest transaction was AXA Real Estate's acquisition of Ropemaker Place for £472 mln at a 5% net initial yield.
