City office market enjoys record £1bn September

The City of London’s office market was in full back-to-school mode in September, with the highest volume of investment deals ever recorded. More than £1.01bn of real estate changed hands in the Square Mile last month, bringing the total deal volume to £5.35bn for the year-to-date, and £2.34bn for the third quarter, according to Savills data. This compares with the low of £640m for the third quarter of 2020, when Covid-19 restrictions were still significantly hampering the market. The record volume was driven in part by a re-emergence of Asian investors, which accounted for four deals last month – 22% of the total figure.  It brings total Asian investment into the City so far this year to £1.15bn – just behind European investors, which have acquired just over £1.47bn of buildings. Stephen Down, head of central London investment at Savills, said: “September’s record volume demonstrates that the City’s attraction as a real estate investment destination has not been dimmed by the events of the past 18 months.  “Buyers were largely curtailed by travel restrictions, and now these have eased they are back and eager to do deals.” Heading into the fourth quarter there is currently £2.15bn of assets under offer across 18 deals, Savills added.  These include Omnicom’s £450m bid to buy its headquarters on the South Bank at 2&3 Bankside, revealed by EG earlier this month. Among the largest acquisitions in September was the Korean-US consortium of National Pension Service of Korea (NPS), Hines and Lipton Rogers’s £200m purchase of 18 Blackfriars Road, SE1, a 1.2m sq ft mixed-use development site. Which agent has acted on the most investment deals this year? Click here to find out >> To send feedback, e-mail alex.daniel@eg.co.uk or tweet @alexmdaniel or @EGPropertyNews Image © London From The Rooftops/Bav Media/Shutterstock