The popularity of Manchester property investment continues to rise, in a city that is still far from its peak according to predictions. What makes the North West city such an investment hotspot?
The city of Manchester is internationally renowned for a number of reasons, from its excellent education offering to its growing and thriving economy, not to mention the top-class football teams and music scene that put it on the map culturally.
It has also been quietly overtaking London as an investment hotspot for a number of years, with the continued expansion and improvement of the city sparking plenty of Manchester property investment opportunities. Many of the “up-and-coming” parts of town from a decade ago are now some of the most popular places to live and be.
However, the investment has not slowed down, and new opportunities for Manchester property investment continue to come up as each area is spotlighted for the next round of regeneration.
Below are the top five factors that continue to attract people to invest in property in Manchester.
1. “Property price powerhouse”
Manchester has been one of the strongest performing cities for house price growth for a number of years, confirmed by a number of house price indices. While other parts of the UK have been struggling to maintain gains over the past year or more after a slowdown in transaction levels, Manchester has continued to thrive.
The latest research from Open Property Group labelled the city as the UK’s “new property price powerhouse” after it was revealed that house prices climbed by 5.8% over the past year – the highest of any major city and well above the average, which was actually a small decline of -1.5%.
2. Manchester property remains affordable
Despite strong house price gains, the average property price in Manchester over the past year was £296,989, according to Rightmove. This compares with the average price of newly marketed properties being £372,324, according to the portal, demonstrating that average homes in Manchester still cost well below the national average.
The benefit here for investors is that they can get a better property for their money compared with the likes of London or other popular investment locations in the south. For some, this might mean more opportunity to diversify with multiple properties, or being able to buy with cash and avoid buy-to-let mortgage costs.
It can also mean stronger rental yields, linked to the following point:
3. Strong rental market
Just like with house prices, Manchester’s rental property prices have been some of the strongest in the country in recent times thanks to exceptional growth in tenant demand. There have been reports of more tenants leaving London for places like Manchester, thanks to its improving jobs market and greater affordability.
The latest data from Zoopla shows that Manchester rents have increased by 9.7% year-on-year, up to £1,070, and just fourth from the top in terms of rental rises after Southampton, Cardiff and Edinburgh.
While gross rental yields can have wide variations depending on the property type, location, and who’s living in it, Manchester also enjoys above-average rental yields of 6.53% according to recent Zoopla analysis. For investors targeting HMOs or other high-yielding property types, this can be considerably higher.
4. More growth is forecast
Both the sales market and the rental market are forecast to remain strong in Manchester. In a report from JLL, the rental market is forecast to grow by 21.6% between 2023 and 2027, which is the strongest in the UK.
Houses prices in the city are also expected to grow by the highest amount over the five-year period, with the outlook from JLL noting that prices will have increased by 19.3% between 2023 and 2027 based on the current and expected climate.
For investors seeking capital growth as well as strong rental yields, this makes Manchester a firm favourite from both perspectives.
5. Regeneration and investment
Like a number of the UK’s regional cities, there is a huge amount of investment taking place there. Some of the major regeneration areas in Manchester right now include Ancoats, Victoria North, and a lot of the city centre. There are also some significant transport improvement projects underway and in the pipeline.
As regeneration projects and new developments continue to spring up across the city, the population of Manchester is expected to continue to grow. With that, more talent is expected to be attracted to the improving jobs market and economy of the city, bringing a fresh wave of tenants for the city’s buy-to-let homes.
If you’re looking for your ideal property investment opportunity in some of the most exciting parts of Manchester and the surrounding area, get in touch with BuyAssociation today.
