264: Building boom accelerates
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LONDON (Reuters) - Commercial property development bounced back strongly in February, helped by a surge in private sector office developments after a surprise January slump in public sector projects, data showed on Monday.
Building and refurbishment work was especially strong outside London and the Southeast of England, while confidence that office construction will rise in the next three months was at its highest in a year, the monthly survey of UK developers and building contractors showed.
Property agency Savills (SVS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said its Total Commercial Activity index rose to a three-month high of 61.2 after sliding in January to 51.4 -- its second-lowest reading in three-and-a-half years.
February's result was the 14th straight month above the 50 mark, which denotes growth.
"The recovery in development activity on public sector projects, from last month's surprise collapse, brought the February index back to its rising trend," said Mat Oakley, head of Savills' Commercial Research department.
"Private sector office development continues to be a major driver of the development market, and this looks likely to continue over the short term," he said.
The overall rate of expansion was most marked outside the main office markets of London and the Southeast of England, where property development accelerated at its sharpest rate in 11 months. In contrast, commercial development growth in London and the Southeast eased from the previous month.
The monthly survey was conducted for Savills by NTC Research, which also produces widely tracked Purchasing Managers' Indexes on Europe's manufacturing and service sectors.
Source:
Reuters.co.uk