2012 marked a torrid year for commercial property investment in Scotland, according to a report released yesterday by property consultants CBRE.
The report found that the market exhibited its poorest performance since 2001, with the total value of property investment in the country amounting to just under £1bn for 2012, representing a 15% year-on-year drop since 2001.
Despite the dismal overall performance, one sector bucking the trend was Scotland’s office market, which outperformed the sector’s five year average of 36%.
In 2012, £426m of property transactions were completed on the office market, representing 42% of total investment in Scotland’s property market.
The figures may come as a surprise to many, with Aberdeen’s booming oil sector, and Edinburgh witnessing the strongest take-up of space in eight years, all indicating a flourishing property market.
CBRE attributed the poor performance to the closing months of 2012, when the value of property transactions fell by 35% in the last quarter, down to £212m.
Commenting on the findings, senior director at CBRE Scotland, Aileen Knox said: “Despite the report revealing some negative figures for the final quarter of 2012, Scottish property did actually perform well compared with its UK counterparts.
“Looking ahead to 2013, it is expected that the market will not change dramatically and that conditions will be similar to that of 2012.”
