Leo Sterling, a leading property portfolio manager in the UAE, has prepared a new range of prime investment offerings in the London property market, particularly those catering to investors from the Middle East.

The offering comes from recent studies that have shown that investor sentiment has improved significantly in key European markets such as London, a statement from the company said.

Leo Sterling noted that analysts have predicted prime rents in the city of London to increase by 19 per cent in 2010 to GBP52.50 ($79.90) per sq ft, up from GBP44 per sq ft in 2009, and eventually reach GBP67 per sq ft by 2014, representing an increase of 52 per cent over five years.

Leo Sterling also pointed out that London has ranked fourth among European markets for investments in existing properties and first for new acquisition opportunities, according to the Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2010 published by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The real estate firm also revealed that it is now focusing its marketing campaign on institutional property funds, particularly Middle East sovereign wealth funds that are steadily investing in London's property market.

"While confidence levels are steadily increasing, investors continue to be mindful of their investment activities and prefer to avoid unnecessary risks,” said Laura Martorano, CEO and Founder of Leo Sterling.

“That is why property investments in Europe nowadays are primarily concentrated in more stable and familiar markets such as London,” she added.

“Based on our experience, institutional investors from the Middle East prefer to invest in London as they are better accustomed to the market and thus have greater confidence in its stability and ability to recover from the recession.”

“As such, Leo Sterling is reinforcing our portfolio of prime property offerings in London as demand from Middle East clients, particularly sovereign wealth funds, has started to pick up this year,” Martorano noted.

Leo Sterling also echoed analysts' sentiments that business potential in London's property market is expected to receive a further boost through a surge in demand from specialist fund managers, following the recent recovery in financial markets.

A projected supply crunch in 2011 will likewise open new opportunities for property developers and investors as only around 106,000 sq ft of speculative space under construction is expected to be completed by next year, the property firm said. – TradeArabia News Service