Property Investment News - January 2010
29/01/2010Rics: Global real estate market begins recovery
Investment in commercial property grew in most markets over the past quarter, according to new figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Investment activity increased across 70 per cent of world real estate markets during the three months to December, compared to just 30 per cent during the preceding quarter, with China an...
29/01/2010FSA chief calls for controls on bank lending
The chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has called for direct controls to be imposed on bank lending to prevent a recurrence of the conditions that led to the credit crunch. Lord Adair Turner told the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that the property bubble between 2004 and 2007 had encouraged irresponsible lending, leading to...
28/01/2010BCSC: Troubled times for shopping centre developments
Many of Britain's largest retail developments are struggling with their debts, according to a new report published by the British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC). Research commissioned by the BCSC indicated that one in five shopping centres, worth £10.1 billion collectively, is at risk of defaulting on its loans. That is despite the fac...
27/01/2010REI seeks funds for new property acquisitions
Real Estates Investment (REI) has announced a new share placing designed to raise funds for investment in the local property market. The West Midlands-based property firm has placed 155,309,834 new ordinary shares, accounting for around 45.6 per cent of its issued share capital, at a price of 6.5p per share, which is 6.1 per cent more than they w...
26/01/2010IPD: Record quarterly performance for pooled real estate funds
British pooled property funds recorded unprecedented returns during the final quarter of last year, according to new figures from Investment Property Databank (IPD). Pooled funds showed returns of 10.4 per cent for the final three months of last year, the real estate analyst's index revealed – the first time it has ever recorded double digit...
25/01/2010Commerz Real buys Birmingham property
Commerz Real has increased its level of investment in Britain by acquiring a recently completed office property in Birmingham on behalf of its European real estate fund. The real estate asset manager, a subsidiary of German firm Commerzbank, spent €134 million to acquire the 11-storey One Snow Hill building from developer Ballymore for its o...
22/01/2010Lloyds refinances property developer Cala's debt
The Cala Group has sealed a favourable deal with Lloyds Banking Group that is likely to secure the commercial and residential property developer's future. Under the terms of this new agreement, Lloyds has converted Cala's debts into preference shares, so as to reduce the firm's arrears and strengthen its balance sheet and has also granted it a ne...
20/01/2010Henderson reopens international property fund
Global asset management firm Henderson is to reopen an international real estate fund, just over a year after a crisis of confidence among its investors forced it to close. Dealing in Henderson's New Star International Property Fund was suspended in November 2008 after an exceptionally large number of redemptions were made across all of its asset...
19/01/2010Canary Wharf acquires new space for property development
The Canary Wharf Group (CWG) has acquired a new site in east London's Docklands area with a view to expanding its real estate portfolio. CWG paid £17.5 million to obtain the long leasehold to 0.87 acres of land at One Park Place, which adjoins its own existing estate, from the administrators of its previous owner, Park Place SARL. This site...
18/01/2010IPD records unparalleled property value growth
Commercial property values showed the highest growth rate ever recorded last month, according to new figures from Investment Property Databank (IPD). December's three per cent increase in property values was the largest rise recorded on the real estate analyst's index in its 23-year history, taking total growth since prices began rising again in ...
15/01/2010Aviva launches property recovery fund
Aviva Investors has launched a new recovery fund, with a view to capitalising on opportunities in the UK commercial property market. Its five-year, £250 million UK Real Estate Recovery Fund is designed to take advantage of improving conditions in the sector and is mostly financed by British-based external investors, with a view to delivering...
13/01/2010Rising retail sales bodes better for real estate sector
Retail sales showed a better than expected increase last month, according to new statistics that commercial property investors will hope bodes well for the future. Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) indicate that like-for-like retail sales in December were 4.2 per cent higher than during the same month of 2008, when they had fallen ...
12/01/2010Commercial real estate rally to continue for now, says expert
Commercial property has undergone a rapid revival that will continue in 2010, a leading industry figure has claimed, but there remain threats to its future fortunes. Ian Womack, global chief executive for real estate at Aviva Investors, said that investors had begun returning to the property market since it reached its nadir in early 2009, while ...
08/01/2010Invista warns of new real estate slowdown
Current growth in commercial property values could prove unsustainable, a new report by Invista Real Estate Investment Management has warned, with future falls possible. Latest figures from Investment Property Databank indicate that, following two years of decline, real estate values climbed by 5.4 per cent between August and November 2009. Howe...
07/01/2010Commercial property values set for new downturn?
The recent increase in commercial property values could run out of steam and even be followed by a decline later this year, a property economist has warned. Investment Property Databank's latest index suggests that commercial real estate values, having fallen by 44.2 per cent over the 25 months to July 2009, subsequently rose by 5.4 per cent betw...
07/01/2010IMA: Property tops investment chart
There was more investment in property funds in November than in any other type of fund, according to new figures from the Investment Management Association (IMA). Real estate funds showed £417 million worth of retail sales in November 2009, more than any other sector and also the highest figure for property since March 2007 – a marked t...
04/01/2010BoE: Credit conditions improving for commercial real estate
Credit conditions for the commercial real estate sector improved over the past quarter and will continue to do so, according to new figures from the Bank of England (BoE). The BoE's credit conditions survey indicated a 5.6 per cent improvement in the availability of credit to the commercial property sector during the fourth quarter of 2009, with ...
04/01/2010British Land acquires retail property share
Property firm British Land has acquired 50 per cent stakes in two large retail developments from the Segro real estate investment trust (Reit). British Land paid £26.9 million for Segro's share in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre in south London and the Clifton Moor Retail Park in York, both of which it will now operate as a joint venture with T...