Despite unexpectedly strong GDP growth during Q1 2008, European economicactivity is anticipated to slow markedly over the rest of the year.
Eurozone inflation has been rising steeply, driven by escalating food and oil prices. In an effort to control inflation, the European Central Bank raised interest rates in July.
A mood of increased caution among office occupiers [...]

Overview: Yield Shift Spreads Across Europe: One of the clearest trends in Q2 2008 was that the effect of thecredit crunch on prime yields spread more widely across Europe, in terms of both location and sector. There are now very few cities where commercial property prices have not been affected and, while initially it appeared [...]

Rental Conditions Deteriorate

All Retail recorded the first monthly fall in rents since May 2001. With the office sector also showing negative monthly rental movements, All Property year to date rental growth is just 0.2% as of July.
Further outward yield adjustments means that All Property capital values are now 20% lower since their peak in June [...]

The report provides an assessment of the consequences of the credit crunch for property finance in London and the implications for policy. It demonstrates that:

The credit crunch is having a far-reaching impact on investment, development and occupational markets.
Given the effect of the credit crunch on the wider economy is still unfolding, the result for property markets [...]

The Finance Market:
The high profile problems being experienced throughout the financial world continue to be a preoccupation for the whole business community.  The Bear Stearns situation earlier this year, the rumours surrounding other banks and the stubbornly high costs of borrowing despite the Treasury’s best intentions have done nothing to quell these fears.  However, even [...]

King Sturge View:

The slowdown that had been evident nationally has spread to the Central London market in recent months. Prime Central London (PCL) pricing fell by 1% in the year to June.
Super-prime stock (£5m or more) saw price growth of 13% compared to a 4% fall in the rest of the market.
We now anticipate that [...]

By the end of 2007 as the credit crunch spread to all corners of the capital market; the downward re-pricing of commercial real estate assets had begun. The transparent nature of the UK market has been quick to reflect this. In New York, the initial impact of the credit crunch resulted in a curtailment of [...]

The Knight Frank View: Our opinion is that professionally managed student accommodation will provide one of the most excitingprospects in the UK property market over the next three years; we believe that the potential for both capitaland rental growth is well above the level we are anticipating for the mainstream residential and commercialproperty sectors.
Set against [...]

Activity in the housing market is slowing sharply as the credit crunch continues to hamper demand. This has led to house prices falling; so far there have been eight consecutive months of declining house prices with a total fall of 7.3%.
The combination of falling house prices and a weakening economy has led to confidence falling [...]

Five months into the year the German Open-ended Fund sector has received a total €3.7 billion net cash inflows. However, the net May inflows of €128.6 million were well below the €984 million monthly average received over January-April 2008.
This cash-flow slowdown in May is almost exclusively due to a net -€780 million withdrawal from HAUS-INVEST [...]

Property’s Yield Gap over Bonds Falls to 100bp. Following a modest decline in Q1, All Property rents were broadly flat in the second quarter of 2008 and over the first half of the year.  However, a loss of momentum in the UK occupier markets has meant that annual rental growth has slowed from 7% in [...]

Investment into UK Property fell to a 7 year low in the second quarter; with the lack of transaction evidence resulting in a yield shift of just 20bp over the quarter, half the rate of Q1.  Compounding the yield impact, rental values actually fell in thesecond quarter compared to moderate growth in Q1.  Nonetheless, All [...]