JLL’s latest Future of Work Survey claims to reveal new opportunities for the commercial property sector as two-thirds of business leaders expect their CRE budget to rise between now and 2030. Despite challenges in the commercial real estate sector and bumpy economic conditions, global business leaders are optimistic about the future, with two-thirds (65 percent) expecting their CRE budgets to increase by 2030, according to the poll. This survey sets out to explore the evolving nature of work, assessing the key priorities, challenges, and strategies for more than 2,300 business and CRE decision-makers. (more…)

New York accounted for a third of all leasing activity globally in the legal sector in the first half of 2024, says Savills, equating to over 1.4 million sq ft of space, out of a total of 4.3 million sq ft across the world’s 15 largest legal markets, reflecting its position as the world’s principal legal hub. Together, US cities accounted for 69 percent of overall H1 law firm office leasing activity in the world’s largest legal markets, reflecting the dominance of American firms in the sector overall, as well as the tendency for US legal offices to have a lower occupancy density and thereby requiring more space, according to Savills. (more…)

The United Kingdom’s commercial property market is showing signs of a quicker recovery than the rest of Europe, following a challenging two-year period marked by high interest rates and the ongoing re-evaluation of the role offices. According to the Green Street Index, the office market continues to be the most sluggish sector. The latest data suggests that both deal volumes and property values in the UK have seen an increase in the first half of 2024. This contrasts with Germany and France, where dealmaking has remained slow and price gains have been more modest. (more…)

An analysis by the European Central Bank (ECB) has raised concerns that several of the Euro zone’s leading banks may be inflating the value of commercial property, potentially obscuring the true state of their loan portfolios in a sector that is facing significant challenges. The analysis suggests that some banks are failing to properly account for the steep downturn in the commercial property market, which has been severely impacted by higher borrowing costs and weakened demand as businesses adjust to the post-pandemic economic landscape. (more…)

In an effort to tackle the fiscal challenges and balance the UK’s budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce significant measures aimed at reducing government spending and optimising public sector assets including public buildings, today. Reeves will lay out her plans in her first major speech as chancellor, where she will highlight what she describes as a £20 billion gap in government spending, attributing it to the economic mismanagement of the previous government. (more…)

Efforts to bring employees back to the office over the past year have generated high degrees of success, according to the 2024 European Office Occupier Survey from CBRE. According to the research, the proportion of companies reporting average building utilisation of 41-80 percent has risen to 61 percent, up from 48 percent in 2023. Conversely, the proportion of companies reporting lower utilisation has fallen, with only a third of companies reporting utilisation of 40 percent or below, compared with nearly half of the companies surveyed last year. (more…)