Manchester
Manchester Property Investment
Manchester is one of the top-performing property markets in the world. Over the past ten years, through varying macroeconomic climates, the city has delivered stable, strong and sustained return on investment.
- 26% capital appreciation forecast over the next 4 years
- 6-8% yields available
- 16% rental growth predicted amid record demand
- 60% more young professionals than the average UK city ratio
Manchester real estate investment highlights
We’ve helped 100s of investors acquire £100s of millions worth of Manchester real estate.
We are extensively familiar with the market and top-tier developers operating within the UK city.
Here, we provide a brief overview of the Manchester real estate market, including:
Past performance of Manchester real estate
Future forecasts for Manchester property investments
Assets and Manchester investment locations
Essential investment information
History of Manchester real estate
Over the last ten years, Manchester real estate has become a popular and compelling addition to many property portfolios. Local and UK investors have been joined by a growing number of international investors keen to acquire assets in the city.
During that time and whatever the wider investment climate, Manchester has delivered consistently high returns. Investors have had solid ROI throughout the global economic slump in 2007–2008 and through the pandemic, with monthly yields and capital appreciation continually surpassing a large portion of the national market.
In fact, Manchester real estate prices are at all-time highs. The city’s average home price is £230,000 as the result of a significant £14,000 (6%) increase in value over the course of 2021. It’s a city-wide capital return that is challenging to match in the UK market.
Despite the record high values, Manchester continues to offer both domestic and international investors genuine affordability. Initial capital outlays are a lot less than other major UK cities such as Birmingham and drastically less than the capital.
Manchester real estate investment performance
Manchester has seen the highest rental yields of any major UK market in recent history. Since 2015, Manchester real estate has always found itself among the top 3 highest yielding in the country, no matter the researching authority, no matter the prevailing economic conditions.
Manchester’s current average yield is over 5%, but investors who choose wisely can get substantially greater yields. London’s typical rental yields, by comparison, are less noteworthy.
- Manchester's current average yield is 5.37%
- London's current average yield is 2.93%
In fact, according to the most recent full-year statistics, Manchester is the UK’s top city for private real estate investment ahead of Cambridge and London.
Is it the right time to invest in Manchester real estate?
Is it still the right time to invest in Manchester then – if prices are at a record high? Well, as noted, the city is still very affordable and most forecasts suggest a bright outlook for real estate investment in Manchester.
Experts predict the city will experience the most capital growth (17.1%) and rental increase (16.5%) of any UK city over the following five years.
As we shall outline further below, population growth is the driving force of this growth. The number of people wanting to live in the city centre has far outstripped supply of available housing.
In fact, it is estimated that the city centre population is growing at a rate almost 15 times faster than homes were being built.
Subsequently, rental rates have increased 24% over the last five years, and rental demand is still rising – especially in city centre postcodes. Incredible tenant demand has been seen in Manchester’s city centre. One report revealed investors have seen an average 34% year-over-year increase in the number of inquiries for their properties.
State and institutional investment in Manchester property
The UK government, overseas states – including China and the UAE – and large-scale investment institutions have all bought into Manchester’s rise.
This has led to sustained economic growth and job creation – and in turn, has helped support the property market and its growth. It has also transformed the city with numerous multi-million-pound projects.
- First Street: £750 million
- Salford Central: £1 billion
- Sportcity: £150 million initially
- Spinningfields: £1.5 billion
- NOMA: £800 million
- MediaCityUK: £1 billion
- Airport City: £1 billion
Furthermore, many existing and potential investors have found the huge amount of capital outlay by governments and sovereign wealth offer confidence in the city centre Manchester property market.
Prime Manchester real estate investment markets
Most locations within the Manchester market offer investors a solid floor for both capital appreciation and rental growth over the short, medium and long term.
That said, like many major property markets in the UK, there are various sub-markets that tend to outperform the average. In Manchester, these tend to be the city centre and Media City. More experienced investors will also know that there is a strong buy-to-let student market in Fallowfield and high house price growth (but much higher asking prices) in the more affluent suburbs towards Cheshire.
Investors looking to acquire should currently focus on the city centre and Media City – actually found in neighbouring Salford.
Understanding the investment fundamentals that underpin Manchester's real estate performance
As touched on, it’s a unique location for supply and demand within the UK.
The demand comes in 2 main forms.
First, Manchester is viewed as a great place to call home. It’s consistently named as one of the best places to live in the country, recently topping all UK cities in an Economist report.
It means young people with their life in front of them view Manchester as offering a premium aspirational lifestyle without the expenses associated with living in London.
Second, huge numbers of people relocate to Manchester to study. It’s home to 2 of the UK’s 5 largest universities so around 100,000 students from the UK and other countries need somewhere to live in Manchester every year.
From an investment perspective, it’s true that most of these initially live within the dedicated student rental sector – although an increasing number of international students are renting out prime city centre apartments. However, after their years of study, many students opt to stay in Manchester, working and living in the city for many years to come.
Both of these factors combine to make Manchester a rental hotbed. The city’s private rented sector is unique – having 60% more 25 to 29-year-olds than the UK average for a city its size.
Find Manchester properties
The Property Selection brings together an exclusively handpicked selection of some of the best real estate investments in Manchester and around the world.