Aberdeen leads Edinburgh and Glasgow in Q2 commercial property sales

Commercial property sales in Aberdeen continued to outstrip Edinburgh and Glasgow in the three months to June, according to the latest analysis by the Scottish Property Federation (SPF).

Aberdeen has performed strongly. Picture: TSPL

For the second successive quarter, its activity exceeded that in the other two cities, with a total sales values of £123 million. While this figure is 26 per cent lower than the Granite City’s total from the previous quarter, it is 68 per cent greater than the same period in 2017.

By comparison, commercial sales activity in Edinburgh and Glasgow was “subdued”. Sales in the Scottish capital totalled £122m, a 19 per cent drop on the previous quarter and almost half the level seen 12 months previously, while Glasgow’s sales amounted to £104m, up 8 per cent compared to the previous quarter, but slumping 42 per cent on the same quarter in 2017.

Nationally, total sales value dropped 29 per cent quarter on quarter at £684m, marking the first fall in total sales values since the third quarter of 2017 The report cited a lower number of high value sales as the main contributing factor.

SPF director David Melhuish said: “Our analysis of Q2 commercial sales figures shows an interesting picture emerging in the cities. Aberdeen continued to have marginally higher sales than both Edinburgh and Glasgow.

“Looking at the bigger picture, across Scotland the recent data suggests that the commercial property sales market has been quieter than we have been used to in the past few years.

“That said, investment remains strong in Scottish real estate, with industry data experts CoStar reporting £584m invested into the sector in Q2. This brings the total investment for 2018 so far to £1.4 billion, up on the same period in both 2017 and 2016.”