INVESTMENT in retail properties in Glasgow hit an eight-year high of more than £450 million in 2022, in spite of the cost-of-living crisis, record-low consumer confidence and hybrid working affecting city-centre footfall, new research shows.

CoStar Group, a provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics, said the investment figure “would likely have been higher had it not been for rising interest rates and the Government’s ill-fated mini-Budget, which sent financial markets into meltdown and curtailed activity from September”.

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Robust investor appetite for retail warehouses, which CoStar said were seen as a defensive play because of their “often essential and omnichannel tenant mix”, drove volumes before the autumn slowdown.

Realty Income’s acquisition of Great Western Retail Park in June was among the standout deals of the year, CoStar noted.

It added: “The £87 million purchase at a 6% yield underlined the strength of investor appetite for dominant retail warehouse parks.”