Friday Property News Update
The great workplace experiment moves into second gear
3 minutes to read
Checking in on global mobility
Mobility across global cities, measured by a range of indicators from flights to workplace activity and time spent in shops, has closed the gap to around 20% below the long-term average, following a plunge of about 50% in early April.
Flights to and from cities have recovered to about a third below the mid-March level, and activity at workplaces is now around 28% below the long-term average, writes Flora Harley. Time spent at retail and recreational locations, having dropped the most at the onset of the crisis, is now within 20% of normal levels of activity, and the restaurant sector has been the star performer in August, with average visits in the UK 22% above last year’s level, thanks to Eat Out to Help Out.
The ONS, meanwhile, says road traffic is almost back to normal levels in London.
Domestic buyers fill the void
The second home market has been surprisingly buoyant in countries such as France, the US, Australia and New Zealand as domestic buyers fill the gap left by international purchasers, according to our latest Global Residential Outlook.
When borders start to reopen, government’s may find their response to the pandemic has repercussions on the volume of overseas demand in their markets, writes Kate Everett-Allen. Based on the results of our recent Global Buyer Survey, 61% of respondents say government reaction would be an influencing factor on where they buy a second home.
UK property records keep falling
The UK property market saw the highest number of exchanges since the end of 2019 last week, as record-breaking numbers of offers in recent months translate into transactions, writes Chris Druce. As we noted earlier in the summer the seasonal slowdown that normally takes place in July and August has also not happened this year, making an exceptional period.
The next phase of the great global workplace experiment
The number of job adverts continued to rise in August, though at a slower pace than July, and there are now signs that companies are looking for staff to return to offices.
Lee Elliott spoke to Neil McLocklin, Knight Frank's EMEA Head of Consulting, about the process and practicalities of transforming the workplace in the post-COVID -19 world. The result will be a lot less travel, both commuting and business, more sustainable buildings and a focus on the physical, mental, spiritual and social needs of employees. We are already seeing clients developing strategies to explore how they could provide options for people to work closer to home for those that don't have the physical space to work from home.
This analysis is part of an insightful round up of everything you need to know about commercial real estate, right now.
Intelligence Talks podcast – Series Two
On Monday we kick off the second series of Intelligence Talks. Having emerged from an unprecedented global lockdown, and with many of us restarting the regular commute, we’ve adapted the podcast to bring you a tightly focused weekly edition opening with our latest big piece of research, followed by a topical discussion on what’s happening in global property sectors.
In our first episode, Tom Bill will explain the rationale behind our new UK house price forecasts. We’ll also discuss how lenders are dealing with the rise in demand for mortgages and payment holidays and why tech giants are continuing to expand in New York.
Listen to Series One now on Spotify, Acast or Apple.
In other news...
Wall Street has its worst day in months; no turning back now as HS2 building work begins; ECB on track to add more stimulus.