By Simon Packard
Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Commercial property investors in the U.K, battered by more than two years of price declines, are likely to get relief in 2010. It may be short-lived.
Values of stores, offices and warehouses will rise 7 percent this year, according to the median estimate of 10 fund managers overseeing 65 billion pounds ($105 billion) of buildings in the U.K. Predictions ranged from a gain of as much as 15 percent to a 19 percent decline.
The global financial crisis pushed Britain into its longest recession on record, driving property values down by 44 percent from a mid-2007 peak, boosting vacancies and depressing rents. While lower values have revived investment demand, price increases may not last beyond the first half as lackluster economic growth forces tenants to cut jobs and demand rent reductions.
