LaSalle say UK commerial property is a buy in 2009

LaSalle, believes that so-called “fair value” – prices offering good rates of return compared with long-term bond rates – has been reached.
2008 has been one of the worst years on record for the sector in the UK which has fallen first and hardest across global property markets, making it now one of the most attractive areas for investment, although  further modest price falls, are expected. This view contrasts with RICS which has forecast a further 25% fall in commercial property in 2009.

It thinks 2009 and 2010 will  be “great years for an offensive strategy because there will be many attractive deals for those with equity and the skills to identify good value”. Australia, Germany and Korea are also recommended.

In the UK they may be right if void rates do not rise above 10%. But if the UK government policy initiatives fail to arrest the deflation of the economy, and more occupiers collapse then all bets are off. Those investors who do come back to the market will have to be equity investors, because it does not look like the banks will be in a position to fund the market, and given that HSBC has completely ruled itself out, there is little incentive for others to provide capital.

About UK Business Property

Whilst there are more than 20 portals covering residential property in the UK the commercial property market remains relatively unserved, with no site having a majority share of the total available commercial property listed. The internet has taken a significantly greater share of all advertising spend each year as it continues to prove that it is the most effective medium for advertisers to reach their audience.

Traditional estate agency methods remain quite successful in reaching the local market around a property, but do not capture leads from the national and international markets at all well. With increasing mobility of populations and business in the global village, it makes sense to expose commercial properties as efficiently as possible to the whole market. In 2006 there were 6 million searches (based on figures from Yahoo Search) made on the internet in the UK for commercial property of all types. Many of these searches will be fruitless as major search engines do not expose many of the available properties at present.

UK Business Property aims to change this by offering commercial agents important incentives to bring all their properties to the whole market. By linking to UKBP agents will bring more traffic to their websites. For agents who do not yet have a fully featured search on their website UKBP offers it's advanced search functions free of charge, in an easy to implement solution. The advantage is that you keep your visitors on your site and build your brand in your local market, while receiving leads from a national and international audience.

UKBP is committed to supporting agents, with advantageous Agency Terms and a profitable opening offer to it's Founder Members, who Register and upload their properties before 28th February 2007.