After a year of watching and waiting as capital values plunge, Gerry Ferguson, manager of the £829m Swip Property Trust, is looking to get back into the market, expecting offers he has placed on a number of retail properties to close soon.

Does that mean the commercial property market has bottomed?

Not yet, says Ferguson, but the end is in sight. 'Most forecasters believe capital values will fall 45-50 per cent from their peak in 2007,' he says.

'To the end of last quarter, they’d fallen by just over 40%. We’ve still some falls to come.'

Financial Times