May Real Estate News Round-Up 2024

In May’s news roundup, we look at some of the positive signs from investors that signal confidence is returning to the London property market and what this means for investors.

Our BRE team has been searching the headlines for the most fascinating and important stories and trends over the past few weeks. Read on to see our pick of the most interesting themes impacting the UK real estate sector.

Themes of interest and market movements

The major theme in the past month has been signals from a range of major institutional investors that the UK’s real estate market is ‘bottoming out’ – it is expected that London in particular could see a boom in activity in the rest of 2024.

Several groups have indicated that the floor of the market has been reached and investors are returning to commercial real estate. For example, a senior executive at Blackstone has noted that the number of bidders for high-quality assets in the capital is on the increase, indicating a return of liquidity to the market. Meanwhile, Great Portland Estates (GPE) has also announced a £350 billion rights issue and stated that, with quality office space still in short supply, now is the time to take advantage of attractive buying opportunities amid favourable market conditions.

Further evidence of an increase in confidence came from a new report that showed the outflow of funds from the UK property market continues to slow, which will offer further stability to the market. Meanwhile, Dyson’s reported purchase of prime retail space in the West End marks another vote of confidence for the capital. 

Dyson set for £71 million Bond Street purchase

Appliances maker Dyson has been tipped as the private investor behind the proposed £71 million purchase of a 12,900 square feet retail unit at 126-127 New Bond Street, highlighting the continued attractiveness of generational assets to individual buyers with an interest in luxury retail. (CoStar)

Luxury brands take over Paris office real estate

A new report has highlighted how luxury brands are taking advantage of a slowdown in demand for prime Paris office space, with these buyers seeing a 59 per cent increase in uptake as other sectors look to reduce floor space or are priced out of the city centre. (CoStar)

Blackstone forecasts return of liquidity to real estate market

Blackstone’s global co-head of real estate Nadeem Meghji has forecast a positive future for commercial real estate as liquidity returns to the market and the number of private investment bidders for high-quality assets continues to increase. (Bloomberg)

UK property fund outflows fall as investor confidence grows

The outflow of capital from UK property funds continued to slow for the third consecutive month in May with a net £22.7 million withdrawn by investors, which indicates improving sentiment in the real estate sectors as stability improves. (CoStar)

GPE unveils £350m rights issue and declares ‘time to buy’

London property developer GPE has declared the time is right to buy in the capital again, as it announced a £350 million rights issue that it states will allow it to take advantage of attractive acquisition opportunities amid favourable market conditions. (CoStar)

Richemont acquires Boodles store at 178 New Bond Street for £82m

Swiss luxury goods group Richemont has acquired a prime retail store on the UK’s most exclusive shopping street for £82m, a net yield of 2.2 per cent. This marks a re-investment on Bond Street following Richemont’s sale of 134 New Bond Street to Blackstone for £227 million earlier this year. (CoStar)

For further information about any of the insights shared above or to find out more about Bedrock’s Real Estate services, please do reach out: info@bedrockgroup.ch

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