Value of IPD UK Index Property Derivatives traded now over £10bn

The total traded value on the IPD UK Index now stands at £10.6 bn (EUR 15 bn), according to data released on Thursday by the Investment Property Databank and the Investment Property Forum. The value of trading to date across all IPD indices, including the latest trades on the French and German indices and the first property derivative trades on the IPD Japanese, Australian, Swiss and Italian Property indices, is now £11.5 bn.

The IPD UK Property Index registered an increase in trading volumes to £1.7 bn in Q3 2007, from just under £1bn in Q2. The UK has seen continued expansion of the property derivatives market over the past three years. During Q3 2007 close to 100 trades were executed, bringing the total number of trades completed - including expired contracts - to well over 700.

The IPD Italian Property Index is the latest and seventh IPD country index to be used as the basis for property derivative trades. Twenty-one banks now have licenses to trade IPD indices, and almost half of these banks are licensed to trade three or more national market indices.

'We believe that, with the global property market facing a period of uncertainty, IPD Index-based country and/or sector derivatives will be of particular use for risk management and portfolio repositioning,' said Ian Cullen, co-founding Director of IPD and Head of Systems and Information Standards.