As the country enters the fourth week of Covid-19 lockdown, the majority of the industrial investment market remains on pause. Transactions that were under offer prior to the crisis are mostly on hold while buyers and sellers try to assess what the future is going to bring, and also which tenants are able to continue paying rent.

Many institutional investors and funds have sent purchase decisions back to Investment Committee to review and stress test assumptions. On other sales, the practical problem of not being able to undertake inspections has intervened to delay matters. Only a very limited number of buyers have unilaterally pulled out of purchases altogether.

Many sales that were due to be launched over the past few weeks have gone on hold until investor inspections and surveys can take place uninhibited and valuers can support price levels without qualification.

While it would be wrong to describe the investment market as anything but challenging, there have been a number of deals that have exchanged and completed since lockdown began, as well as a series of competitive bidding processes on sales that were already quite advanced. Read more