With an impressive increase in transaction activity, commercial property had a great year.
In 2015, total transaction activity within the commercial property space came in at R118,5bn, an impressive 12,8% increase from 2014, according to Lightstone.
Ndibu Motaung, head: commercial property, Lightstone, highlights transactions by a private buyer in KwaZulu-Natal for potential development opportunities in Ezakheni C and Umlazi A, totalling over R940m in value, as being a key contributor to this rapid increase. Despite this being the largest single transaction, there were a few notable deals by prominent funds, including Investec Property Fund’s acquisition of Zenprop’s portfolio (R7,1bn in value) and Liberty’s 25% acquisition of Melrose Arch. When looking at transactions by geographical spread, Gauteng’s three biggest metropolitan municipalities accounted for 57,4% of the transaction values and, collectively, were the largest contributors to the overall sales activity in 2015.
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood, Sunday Times.
