Some interesting movement in the property market worth flagging this month. Commercial investment is ticking up — £24.3bn invested year-to-date, with London still leading the way and international investors making up nearly half of all activity. Industrial and logistics had a particularly strong July, and hotels have seen investment more than double compared to this time last year.
One trend catching my eye: Chinese ecommerce operators are increasingly driving demand for warehouse and logistics space, and they're looking well beyond the usual hotspots — recent deals include last-mile depots in Leeds.
On the residential front, things seem to be steadying. Buyer enquiries and agreed sales have improved for five months running, even if they're not quite back in positive territory yet. Average house prices are up 1.4% over the year to £273,000, with Scotland and the North West leading the charge on growth.
Landlords, meanwhile, are seeing a healthy income boost — average rental income is up nearly 23% year-on-year — though that's mostly down to rising rents rather than people buying more properties, and borrowing costs are climbing too.
The overall mood? Cautious optimism. If mortgage rates ease, there could be some pent-up demand ready to come through.
Source: Quilter Property Review - September 2026, review of August
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