Editor’s View: Market takes long view on uncertain political times

    At 8am this morning the market delivered its verdict on the political decision made by the electorate last night. And today, for the first time in 30 years, it had to respond to an inconclusive result. It didn’t panic.   That says less about the significance of the outcome of this extraordinary election and more about the scale of the crises elsewhere.   Greece, Portugal and perhaps Spain are in dire straits and threaten the future stability of the eurozone. So while the FTSE dipped and the pound fell against the dollar in the early minutes of trading, the drops were no more dramatic than the falls of recent days.   And the impact on property? Well, DTZ’s annual Money into Property, published to understandably muted fanfare this morning, says that nine in ten of the world’s commercial property markets are tipped for growth. Eight of the 151 markets across the world seen as offering fair value are in the UK.   This election won’t change that but neither will it help stave off DTZ’s expectation that China will overtake the UK (and Japan) to become the world’s second largest property market by next year.   Over the last fortnight I’ve been surprised how many senior figures in property have said that a hung parliament doesn’t matter. Some have even expressed a belief that it could actually be a good thing: conceivably a balanced parliament could see areas where institutional inertia is most profound –  the public sector property estate for example – addressed.   That won’t be the case in the near future unfortunately. A deal between opposing politicians will have to be done and delays to the decisions that matter most to property will be the result. As political analyst Rebekah Paczek of the PPS Group noted in an article for Estates Gazette earlier this month: “Should we have a hung parliament, making amendments to planning policy is unlikely to be first on the ‘to do’ list.”   What the UK property industry needs most is stability, economic growth (however modest) and international competitiveness. There’s no sign – yet – that the markets believe that that is impossible under a combined government.   But it may yet come round to that point of view. It will be a nail-biting day. Indeed it will be a nail-biting year.   damian.wild@estatesgazette.com