The property derivatives market had the highest number of trades ever reported in one three-month period, says the Investment Property Databank and Investment Property Forum.

In the first quarter of 2007, 125 transactions took place totaling £2.9bn. At the end of Q1, the total outstanding cumulative value of commercial property derivative trades stood at £6.5bn coming from 407 deals.

“The £2.9bn traded on derivatives in the first three months of this year equates to about 10% of the total IPD record of direct property investment trading in the UK throughout 2006, itself the second busiest year on record. With four banks also now reporting trades on IPD’s French index, the emerging derivatives market is really finding its feet”, said Ian Cullen, IPD’s co-founding director.