WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(LONDON, ENGLAND) -- Global investors interested in United Kingdom commercial properties have resumed their online searches to a level it was before Christmas 2009.

 

Office and investment properties lead the search list. Searches for retail assets are down.

 

In its monthly report, the Property Search Index (PSI) compiled by London-based Revolution Public Relations, shows interest levels for  industrial and distribution properties were at their highest for several months while interest in retail property fell slightly, despite having reached its highest level for 2009 at the end of December.

 

Andrew Barber of Revolution Public Relations, comments: "Interest in the UK's commercial property sector during January, as demonstrated by users of Google search facility, returned to the same levels experienced prior to Christmas."

 

However, he notes, "It proved to be quite a volatile month with many peaks and troughs - particularly for retail.

 

"The extreme levels of interest in shops seen between Christmas and New Year was not sustained beyond the first few days of 2010 - which would seem to confirm that this spike in activity was a result of many, well-intentioned New Year resolutions."

 

Barber adds: "It might also vindicate Napoleon Bonaparte's observation about us being a 'nation of shopkeepers' - or maybe he should have said a 'nation of would-be shopkeepers'?"

 

He says  "the index's return to the levels of the previous few months seems to indicate stable levels of interest in commercial property across the board, which is a hopeful sign of a sustained recovery."

 

Barber says the figures used in the calculation of the Property Search Index are published by Google and illustrate the volume of web searches conducted in the UK.

 

"The weekly volume of a particular search term is ranked in relation to its highest figure for the preceding 12 months (i.e.,  a percentage of the peak level measured during a 12-month period)," he says.

 

Revolution Public Relations compiles the scores for 30 individual search terms, on a monthly basis, to produce an index score to assess the level of online interest in the commercial property market.