Willis today released its 2005 Global Construction Market Overview, which says that the London and European markets are in a “softening cycle” due to the favourable experience over the last three years and that although new capacity has entered the market, it is not seen as having a significant impact on the trend.
The report states that in recent years the construction market's capacity has never really grown to recognise its full potential and that while it has the opportunity to do so, it's primary characteristic has been capacity withdrawal, with an estimated loss in the region of $175m during the last five years.
However, the rate of softening, it added, is not as dramatic as in other associated classes, such as property or energy, both being markets that generally have a considerable surplus of supply and demand.
