UK Commercial Property Rents Fall In May

Source : The Business Times, June 12, 2008

(LONDON) Commercial property rents in the UK fell for the first time since 2003 in May, confirming analysts' fears and adding a fresh dimension to the country's property slump, data from CB Richard Ellis Group Inc showed on Tuesday.

Worse still for investors banking on a quick end to the market's slide, the data showed an acceleration for the first time this year in the monthly rate of decline in capital values.

Commercial property valuations, on average, have fallen by more than a sixth since the UK market peaked last August on the back of a sizzling multi-year bull run. Capital values fell by a further one per cent in May, after having slipped by 0.7 per cent in April, and are now 6.2 per cent lower than at the beginning of the year, CB Richard Ellis said.

Central London's crane-peppered office building market was under notable pressure - as financial sector job losses mounted at the same time as new buildings were completed - with rents sliding 1.3 per cent in the period, the property services firm said. -- Reuters