The credit crunch has hit London’s commercial property

THE CREDIT crunch has hit London’s commercial property market, stalling sales of landmark City buildings and halting new developments. Lloyd’s of London, the centre of the world’s reinsurance market, the headquarters of Nomura, the Japanese bank, and the high-profile Shard of Glass development have been affected by the recent market turbulence. Private developers seeking to finance large projects or make significant purchases are finding it increasingly difficult to secure backing, despite earlier signs that well-located and let sites would escape the credit crunch.

London real estate hit by U.S. credit woes

LONDON,(UPI) — There are fears London's high-end real estate market will see prices plummet as a result of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage meltdown, the Financial Times said.
Tracy Kellett, founder of BDI Home Finders in London told the newspaper some sellers were already lowering prices, while John Young of the Humberts real estate agency said uneasiness had resulted in several deals falling through. During the past two years, prices in London's high-end property market have risen by about 50 percent based largely on a financial services boom, the newspaper said.

Happy family made an Easymove to Saxon Park

George Wimpey North West then agreed a marketing price for their old property based on two independent valuations by local estate agents. George Wimpey North West and the chosen estate agent then undertook an extensive marketing campaign to sell their old property. The housebuilder even paid the advertising and estate agents fees, helping to reduce the costs of moving. Kate said: “George Wimpey North West sorted everything out for us so we didn’t need to worry about anything. It was a very stress free move, thanks to the Easymover scheme and Yvonne, the sales executive, who helped us with the whole moving process.

Brixton says property specialists will beat slowdown

LONDON (Reuters) - The UK's only pure industrial property real estate investment trust, Brixton, said it was confident its specialist status could shield its prospects as the property sector braces for a market correction. "A less certain direct market is good for specialist companies who concentrate more on prime locations and quality product," Brixton chief executive Tim Wheeler said in a conference call on Tuesday.

London Home Buyers Delay on Concern Bonuses Will Fall

Buyers of London houses and apartments costing about 2 million pounds ($4 million) are delaying purchases on concern the turmoil in credit markets may result in lower bonuses for bankers. Last week's turbulence in the markets in London and the U.S. is creating some serious caution,'' Christopher Bramwell, a director in Savills Plc's London residential department, said in an interview. ``Buyers at this level look more to the financial markets and are less affected by interest rates.''

London House Prices Fell for the First Time in a Year

Bloomberg - London house prices fell for the first time in a year this month, a sign higher interest rates are cooling Britain's property boom, a Rightmove Plc report showed. The average asking price for a home in the U.K. capital slipped 0.1 percent from July, the first drop since August 2006, to 394,268 pounds ($777,575), Britain's biggest real-estate Web site said in a statement today. The survey measured 150,000 properties listed for sale in the four weeks through Aug. 11.

Bank of England showed a continued growth in lending to real estate

The total amount outstanding to real estate now stands at £175bn, representing 11.2 per cent of the total outstanding debt in the wider market. As a proportion of total debt, this is the highest real estate has been since records began. Overseas investors are increasingly injecting money into the UK market. During the first six months of the year, overseas purchases totalled £12.5bn, accounting for 45 per cent of all transactions.

British Land Resists Rate Fears

LONDON - Real estate investment trust British Land gave hope to Britain's property followers on Thursday after it posted solid second-quarter results and bolstered its stock with dividends and buy-backs. It now remains to be seen whether the company has weathered the worst of the threat of rising interest rates. "British Land is significantly outperforming the sector in net asset value growth," said Stuart Draper, analyst with Dolmen Securities. He said that, historically, property stocks had been undervalued by around 10% to their net asset value, while British Land's discount stood at 30% on the back of worries that interest rates would rise.

UK building activity recovers momemtum

LONDON - Reuters - The pace of commercial building in Britain rallied in July after hitting a five-month low in June but construction activity continued to lag the average for the first half of 2007, data showed on Tuesday. The report from property services firm Savills Plc (SVS.L: Quote, Profile , Research) showed rising levels of public sector developments boosted the number of commercial property projects undertaken during July despite concerns higher interest rates would stifle demand for commercial real estate.

England house prices grew by three per cent between June and July

Rising house prices in London are continuing to drive annual price inflation across the property market, new figures have revealed. Annual rate of house price inflation across England and Wales hit nine per cent in July, down from 9.1 per cent in the previous month, according to the latest house price index published by the Financial Times (FT).
However removing London data from the analysis brings the annual rate of house price inflation down to 7.3 per cent, stressed the consultancy firm which compiles the figures based on existing Land Registry data.

Lloyd's of London building up for sale

LONDON (Reuters) - The Lloyd's of London building, a landmark in the City financial district, is to be put up for sale in the autumn for 320 million pounds by owners CommerzLeasing und Immobilien AG (CLI), a report said on Friday. At that price, the futuristic 310,000 square feet (28,800 sq metres) building -- which is home to Lloyd's , the world's oldest and biggest insurance market -- would have a rental yield of around 5 percent, the report in trade magazine Property Week said.

Electra real estate, partners buy ₤134.7 million London property

Electra Real Estate will own 60% of the property, Kamor 20%, and the third partner 20%. The 17,500-sq.m. building is leased to the Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE; TSX:RY) as its London headquarters through 2012. Net annual rent is ₤7.53 million (NIS 65.7 million). The companies are negotiating with RBC to extend its lease.

House prices 'to soar 40 per cent within next five years'

England house prices are predicted to show a startling rise of 40 per cent within five years hitting a national average of more than £300,000. The prediction comes from the National Housing Federation,(NHF) which says the rise will come despite Government promises to massively step up house building.

UK property lending rose record $17.1bln

LONDON,(Reuters) - Data from the Bank of England on Friday showed bank lending to Britain's property industry rose by a record 8.4 billion pounds ($17.10 billion) in the second quarter, even as property returns slowed and borrowing costs rose. The central bank's quarterly review of UK bank lending showed the total amount of debt secured on commercial real estate rose to 175 billion pounds, or 11.1 percent of all outstanding UK debt -- both records also.

£60m makeover for Lewisham's Grove Park Estate

Grove Park estate in Lewisham is set to receive £60 million worth of investment after residents voted to transfer ownership from Lewisham Council to London & Quadrant Housing Trust. A total of 1,439 homes on the estate will be transferred to L&Q after 56 per cent of eligible voters took part in a ballot and 78 per cent of these said they were in favour of the transfer.

Invista Real Estate said it expected to cash in on a slowdown in the UK property market

LONDON (Reuters) - Invista Real Estate Investment Management said it expected to cash in on a slowdown in the UK property market as falling returns would distinguish skilled managers from lesser rivals. Speaking to Reuters as the company (INRE.L: Quote, Profile , Research) posted half-year figures on Tuesday, Chief Executive Duncan Owen said he was confident Invista would outperform in a market delivering average returns of between 8 and 9 percent because the double-digit annual returns seen in 2005 and 2006 made it harder for investors to select the best managers.