The final quarter of 2009 saw £810m of deals including the £297m sale of Silverburn to Hammerson and Canada Pension Plan, La Salle Investment Management’s £100m purchase of The Mall Bexleyheath, the Crown Estate’s £100m purchase of a 50 per cent share in Princesshay in Exeter and HP Properties’ purchase of Clydebank in Glasgow.

Cushman & Wakefield calculates another £400m of shopping centre deals are currently under offer, including two more disposals by The Mall fund which has placed its Aberdeen property under offer to Rockspring and its Preston property under offer to Orchard Street Investment Management.

Strong investor demand meant the sector continued to see yield compression with some sub sectors seeing 75bps inward movement, on C&W's calculation. It says the strongest demand remains for prime assets with prime yields returning towards their long term average. But secondary yields still offer a significant discount, as fears over the occupational market and income sustainability, understandably, continue to deter investors.

David Erwin, CEO of UK capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield said: “With hindsight it could appear that 2009 was a missed opportunity for many investors. The yield discounts offered at the start of the year probably over-compensated for the weakness in the occupational market. With investment demand exceeding supply in the second half of the year we have seen yields start to correct. The question is, will yields continue to harden throughout 2010 and will those who fail to act also look back on 2010 as a missed opportunity come January 2011?”

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