Central London property firm Great Portland Estates said on Wednesday it was too early to talk of a recovery in Britain's shellshocked property market while the country remained close to economic peril. Whispers of a late 2008 upswing in the commercial property sector have followed better-than-expected full-year results from bellwethers Land Securities and British Land but Great Portland Chief Executive Toby Courtauld cautioned against premature calls of a turning point. "I don't think it's helpful to talk of a turnaround yet -- not because there's more pain to come -- but because visibility is still not great," Courtauld told Reuters in an interview. Financial market turbulence slammed the brakes on Britain's debt driven property market last summer, ending a five-year bull run which regularly pushed prime property yields below the five-year cost of borrowing.

"I think we'll see more upward yield movement on secondary or less well located property and increased pressure on rents at the top end," Courtauld said, without giving details. Great Portland shares were trading 0.2 percent up at 443.5 pence by 0947 GMT versus a 0.9 percent rise in the FTSE 350 Real Estate Index. CHALLENGES

Courtauld cautioned that further challenges lay ahead for the UK property market but analysts welcomed Great Portland's full-year results on Wednesday as in line with forecasts.

Date : 2008-05-21 02:19:42
Source : guardian