Commercial building activity in the UK continued to contract sharply in July but property developers were slightly less gloomy about the future than a month earlier, survey data showed on Tuesday.

Property services firm Savills (SVS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said its Total Commercial Development Activity Index showed a net balance of minus 33.8 percent -- a record low in the report's five-year history and a ninth straight monthly fall.

Building contractors and developers were also pessimistic about the three-month outlook, especially in the office sector, the survey showed.

However, at minus 36.9 percent the expectations index showed a net balance that was 4 percentage points firmer than in June.

"While the slight easing in the degree of pessimism about the future might be a sign that the end of the current downturn may be in sight, we do not expect activity or confidence to improve dramatically until the credit squeeze starts to ease," Mat Oakley, head of Savills' commercial research, said. (Reporting by William Kemble-Diaz; editing by Tony Austin) (See www.reutersrealestate.com for the global service for real estate professionals from Reuters).

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/