More so than any other time in the last few years I am being asked about the state of the property market. My particular interest is in the commercial property sector – or in land deals for all types of property – including residential.

It’s fair to say that there is a North – South divide. The London and South-East market is clearly red-hot. Too hot some might say and a cooling is inevitable. However, talk of a ‘crash’ seems unlikely to me. London is a world market – investors from outside the UK make a up a significant part of the demand.

In middle England we see things slightly differently. There is usually a ripple effect when a market improves (or falls for that matter). It takes a little time for the ripple to reach us. I would suggest that it is doing now. We are seeing quite strong bids on residential land – and good stock is back at pre-crash prices. I have seen bids of £1m per acre.

There also seems a change in retail fortunes too. In a couple of cases recently there have been a number of bidders for well located city centre shops. I haven’t seen the latest data on vacancies but I suspect it will show a fall. There’s a bit more life out there in Nottingham.

Sadly the office market seems still slow. We have too much stock of the wrong type. We have little Grade A stock – which sometimes holds us back. I do think though that the way in which we work is changing – rapidly. Offices may have had their day? More on that tomorrow!

Summary – it’s better than it was. The Election next year though might just change that?