Riding the property roller coaster

The UK’s commercial property market was, in common with the residential market, almost brought to its knees by the recession. Transactions came to a virtual halt, while valuers in the absence of trades continued downgrading values until the values showed a 44% drop in two years (July 2007-2009). Meanwhile, rental values fell by over 10% and, as the financial crisis developed, around 16% of City office space emptied. Twelve months is a long time in property, let alone politics and, as with equities (whose low was reached three months before that of commercial property), the situation is v...