Levels of online searches for commercial real estate in th UK fell again during May; as revealed in our "Property Search Index" - this is the third month running that volumes of searches have fallen. Has the market stalled?

The overall fall was only very slight when compared to April - but the figure would have been much worse had it not been for a dramatic bounce back in the levels of online interest in the industrial and distribution sector, which fell badly in April. All the other sectors studied fell during May.

This is not that surprising as the country has just gone through a General Election that has seen the formation of a coalition Government which resulted in a great deal of uncertainty. This uncertainty continues and will do until the contents of the Government's emergency budget on the 22nd June. Only then will the market have a clear idea of the severity of the cuts in public spending and only then will occupiers be able to speculate on the likely impact that the "new age of austerity" have on their businesses.

Beyond the Emergency Budget the market faces the traditional summer slowdown - which may give everyone a chance to asses the impact of the cuts, take a deep breath and then move onwards.

In the meantime I expect the level of online searches for property to continue to fall - which means that enquiries regarding commercial property from potential occupiers will also be slow.

The market may not have stalled - but online - it is certainly going much slower.