There are pronounced regional and sector differences present in the UK commercial real estate market, with prime London office space continuing to outperform the rest of the country, the latest index has found.
According to data released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the market has posted modest improvements since the last survey.
In total, 18 per cent more surveyors expect new sales and lettings to increase in the coming three months, while a further eight per cent reported that there had been a rise rather than fall in occupier enquiries in recent months.
Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, commented: "While it is true that some optimism is returning to the real estate world, the commercial market still faces significant challenges. Regional variations are becoming increasingly visible with the picture on rents and capital values broadly reflecting the emerging economic recovery."
Mr Rubinsohn added that the lack of new builds and projects being completed outside of London was also likely to have an impact on the health of the overall UK market.