King Sturge celebrates on the South Coast
JLL is celebrating the 21st year of its Southampton office with the publication of its South Coast Metropole 2010 report, a large tome including details of all key transactions in the region during the past year and the group’s thoughts on the prospects for each commercial property sector in 2010 and into 2011-2012.
The group, which is also marking its 250th year in 2010, says the pressure on investment funds to put money back into commercial property is growing monthly, with all the main funds now back into prime property and set to remain so during the year.
While a question-mark remains as to how far capital values can rise, given the underlying weakness of occupational markets, King Sturge is clear that a two-tier market will persist in which prime properties command considerable values while secondary, vacant buildings “may be shunned by investors”.
Within the South Coast industrial sector, King Sturge has seen enquiries double month-on-month since Q4 2009 and is now seeing increased occupier confidence. “As the market returns the main issue is a dramatic fall in the supply of prime space,” it notes. In its review of office space in the region, the group notes that landlords are pulling out all the stops to retain occupation and says there could be a further dip in rents in 2010, although the worst of the fall is probably over.
Occupier demand within the retail sector remains “measured rather than rampant” and the development pipeline is muted, the group notes. Overall, retailers are cautiously optimistic, it adds, concluding: “We are not yet quite finished with the High Street”.
