The number of transactions in the Scottish investment market more than doubled in Q3 2012, according to CBRE’s Scottish Property Quarterly.
Some £307m of deals were transacted during the period – more than double that achieved in Q2, when £134m of property was traded.
The report said a total of £234m of Scottish offices were purchased in Q3, 76% of the total, making it the most actively transacted sector.
The largest deal of the quarter saw F&C acquire the Prime Four Business Park in Aberdeen for £94m. This deal takes the year-to-date figure for Aberdeen investment transactions to £237m which is higher than any full year in the past decade.
Scottish all property total returns experienced a modest recovery in Q3 after Q2 saw the first negative return for three years. At 0.3%, all property total returns reached their highest point of the year-to-date.
The industrials sector saw total returns of 0.9%, retaining its position as the best-performing sector for the fourth consecutive quarter and making the highest returns of the year so far.
While offices performed worse than other property asset classes in Scotland in Q3 2012 with total returns at -0.2%. Despite this, it was the only sector in Scotland not to experience a fall in rents.
Representing a slow recovery in the sector, total returns for retail in Q3 were 0.4% compared with negative returns in both Q1 and Q2 2012. Within the sector, retail warehouses outperformed high street shops with a total return of 0.6%.
Aileen Knox, senior director, at CBRE, said: “We have witnessed a significant increase in investment volumes in Q3 2012 though this figure is still behind the number of transactions for the same period in 2011, showing the market outlook remains uncertain.
“Aberdeen, however, has enjoyed a high number of investment transactions this year and accounts for around 31% of the total Scotland figure.”
Lisa.Pilkington@estatesgazette.com
