NEW research from the Scottish Property Federation (SPF) has revealed commercial property sales values in Glasgow surpassed those of Edinburgh in Q2 2019 – the first time this has happened since 2015.
The total value of commercial property sales in Scotland continued to fall during the quarter. At £614 million, sales were the lowest in five years.
Despite sales values falling, the number of transactions increased, which the SPF said indicates a decrease in higher value transactions rather than a lack of activity.
Glasgow bucked the national trend with the total value of commercial property sales rising against both the previous quarter and the same quarter in 2018. Sales in the city totalled £172 million, accounting for 28% of Scotland’s total commercial property sales during the quarter.
Edinburgh, by contrast, experienced a ‘significant’ fall in the total value of commercial property sales, the SPF added. At £108 million, the sales values decreased by £156 million on the previous quarter and £14 million on the same period last year. The proportion of Scottish commercial property sales in Scotland’s capital fell from 35% in the previous quarter to just 18%.
SPF director David Melhuish said, “Glasgow was very impressive this quarter, outperforming Edinburgh for the first time in four years against a wider Scottish market that saw a reduced value of sales activity. Glasgow’s sales increase was fuelled by a number of £5 million-plus deals, totalling £129 million, whereas Edinburgh only secured £33 million in the same category. A notable feature of Scottish commercial property investment in the Q2 period was the rise of capital sourced from Asia, which topped £250 million for the first time on record, according to CoStar data. Ryden reported a standout £48 million transaction for a Korean client of Knight Frank Investment Management.”
