OVERSEAS investors ploughed about £300 million into Glasgow’s office market last year, overshadowing domestic buyers, a survey shows.
The report, by property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle, shows overseas buyers accounted for 65 per cent of the £461 million of total investment in the office market in Glasgow in 2017. JLL noted 2017 had been the most buoyant 12-month period for such activity since before the financial crash.
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Ten of 23 deals in the Glasgow office market last year involved foreign buyers. JLL noted that sterling’s post-Brexit vote weakness had made the UK “look like better value” for overseas investors.
Ross Burns, director for capital markets at JLL Scotland, meanwhile cited domestic political factors.
He said: “In recent years, the UK institutions have scaled back their Scottish portfolios due to an uncertain political landscape in Scotland, leaving the door very much open for overseas buyers.
“With most international investors working with a wide portfolio, with assets around the world, there is often less risk associated with investing in a market like Glasgow, regardless of any external political factors.”
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JLL said Glasgow had, in recent years, “witnessed a significant increase in interest from investors in Asia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Europe and America”.
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