Knight Frank’s latest statistics show that nearly £1.8bn of deals will close in Q4.
This should result in another very healthy year of Shopping Centre transactions, indicating that the out-turn for 2014 will be around £5.64 billion. This is the highest anticipated annual total transaction sum since the record year of 2005.
These figures assume that two shopping centre portfolios conclude this calendar year namely the Rockspring (Tiger) Portfolio and the Bank of Ireland Portfolio (Project Foyle). It also assumes that Gingko Tree conclude their 50% acquisition of the Bentalls Shopping Centre in Kingston.
Knight Frank’s database indicates that in total some 84 shopping centres have been traded during 2014 which is the highest number since 2006.
Bruce Nutman, head of retail investment, Knight Frank commented; “We are continuing to see an impressive demand for the Shopping Centre sector within the UK. This is driven by a wide ranging group of investor types, fuelled by an improving debt market and nervousness when considering Continental European retail opportunities. We see this strength of investor demanding continuing in 2015 with a further £900 million either under offer or available in the market place”.