Sales of commercial new-build properties in London could fall to a four-year low by the end of 2019, according to the latest HM Land Registry data analysed by property data insight company Search Acumen.
The report shows that 928 transactions in the capital were made between January and May this year, down by a third on the comparable period in 2018, in which 1,372 transactions were made.
According to Search Acumen’s forecast for the total number of new-build transactions for 2019, deals could slump to 2,647.
After the EU referendum, 2017 saw a spike in London deals to 4,198, but new-build transactions then fell by 6% in 2018 to 3,951 deals.
Liverpool saw the largest number of sales across England and Wales outside of London between January and May this year, with 254 deals.
Birmingham followed with 183 deals, then County Durham with 113 and Redbridge with 109.
Redbridge, which is located along the Crossrail corridor, has also seen the biggest annual percentage increase in activity so far this year, with a 506% rise in transactions between January and May compared to the same period of last year, in which just 18 deals were made.
Caroline Robinson, commercial real estate business development manager at Search Acumen, said London has experienced a “significant slowdown” in new-build real estate sales due to the price of land coupled with an “anaemic economy at the mercy of Brexit negotiations.”
She added: “While new-build real estate sales have significantly curtailed in London, key cities in the north of England have gone from strength to strength.
“The continuing regeneration of Liverpool’s city centre and docks has made it the hub for new real estate development over the past four years and it shows no signs of abating this year, even in the face of Brexit malaise. Neither do strong growth areas in Birmingham, Leeds and Salford.”
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