News and Thoughts
Thoughts on the Real Estate market and beyond.
A changing market
09 April 2024Changed economic and market conditions mean there is a need to change aspects of the way we do business.For inspiration into what those changes may be, we can look back to the past, and we can look globally to other markets. Plus we can also look to other industries to see… Read More
Same, same and more same
02 April 2024We are all familiar with the technical description of the state of inertia from our secondary school physics lessons: “a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless that state is changed by an external force”.… Read More
New Year, New Attitude
15 January 2024Most of what occurs in the commercial and industrial property market occurs because of attitudes. There are certainly some times that physical events have a direct (and/or indirect) impact on the market. Earthquakes and floods will always impact values in locations they strike. But… Read More
Reflection and Anticipation
18 December 2023As we put behind us probably the most difficult year in the industry in the last decade we take the opportunity to contemplate what can only be better times ahead. Looking back over the last few years (and more) we have seen a number of changes, not only in the commercial real… Read More
State of the Nation
27 November 2023Agents don’t need us to tell them what is going on in the property market currently. Every agent is aware that purchasers are as slow as ever to make a commitment, that banks don’t want to lend, and that getting a response to an email is harder than ever.But in the wider… Read More
Where do yields come from?
24 October 2023We are reasonably certain that the formula for formulating yields on industrial property was not carried down off the mountain on a stone tablet by Moses. And we are even more certain that there are no government employees bright enough to have dreamed up a secret algorithm for… Read More
Christmas Holidays Anyone?
02 October 2023It certainly feels like an appropriate time to go off on holiday. Just as at Christmas, when you can take time off without fear of missing out on a deal, so would taking time off now have little impact on dealmaking.There is little enthusiasm being shown by potential tenants… Read More
The exquisite art of Incremental Degradation
04 September 2023Incremental degradation was once explained to me by way of the analogy of a photocopier.If you copy a document, the copy is marginally less clear than the original. Then if you copy the copy, it is again very slightly fuzzier. And so on. It’s a physical representation… Read More
State of the Market
14 August 2023The question we are most commonly asked currently is some variation on “where is the market going?”. Rather than launch into a technical response encompassing interest rates, historical trends and the impacts of bureaucratic and political incompetence, it’s easier to just say that… Read More
The complication of simplicity
31 July 2023Very often reducing problems, or even perceived problems, to their simplest elements enables us to achieve clarity of thinking, and see issues for what they are. Eliminating the superfluous, the decorative and the distracting can enable us to see what really matters. But… Read More
The addiction and scourge of OPM
26 June 2023The United States of America is home to many strange and seemingly inexplicable things. They call it the land of the free - and then proceed to lock up as many citizens as they can, or otherwise tie them up in endless litigation. And proclaim they champion free trade – and then… Read More
If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
12 June 2023We have all heard this philosophical question. We know that it has nothing to do with sound waves and the physics of sound. The question is merely asking whether the existence of a perceivable thing is entirely dependent on its being perceived. We could go to great lengths… Read More
Changed times call for changed mindset
24 May 2023Aspects of the industrial real estate marketplace have changed dramatically over the past six months - while other aspects have remained constant. Vacancy rates are still exceptionally low, but yields have crept up. There are still transactions taking place - but decision making… Read More
Assumptions
15 May 2023Our latest weekend reading included a piece on “assumptions”. It was primarily aimed at teachers. In the current debate around teachers’ salaries – whether they are adequate, and whether teachers should be paid by performance or longevity – we thought it particularly appropriate. The… Read More
The New Normal
17 April 2023Until late last year investors in Industrial Real Estate were very used to low interest rates, ample liquidity, low vacancy rates and rising asset valuations. However, much of that has now changed. Thanks to quantitative easing, we have inflation- which has resulted… Read More
All In
11 April 2023Over the years I have been involved with a number of aspiring entrepreneurs. Often aspiring to leave a role as a cog in a corporate machine, with fanciful notions of what being their own boss might mean. And with dreams of more money and a more “balanced lifestyle”, whatever that… Read More
The good things about tough times
20 March 2023It would only be those who have been stranded on a desert island (without internet) for the last six months who would not be aware that the industrial real estate market has now entered a very different phase. And that this new phase requires very different attitudes and behaviour… Read More
My New Year Resolutions
16 January 2023New Year is that time where many of us make rash resolve as to changes we will make to our lives in the coming year. Many of those resolutions don’t last more than a few weeks. Sometimes not more than a few days. It is said that January is the month when gyms have the most sign-ups.… Read More