Chinese Property Investors Bet On The Northern Powerhouse

[Andy T]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36086012

" Listening to details of when the M62 motorway is likely to be upgraded - or how the high-speed railway HS2 is progressing - may not be your idea of a scintillating weekend. But this Saturday and Sunday 500 Chinese investors will be lapping up such details in two of Hong Kong's s*****iest hotels, along with their dim sum. No longer will they be staring at artist impressions of Canary Wharf or Battersea. Instead, lured by George Osborne's promotion of the "Northern Powerhouse", Chinese investors are packing their bags and heading up the M6. "




" In the process the Chinese are helping to fuel the beginnings of a property boom and push up prices, particularly in Liverpool and Manchester. Little wonder that earlier this month the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) reported that prices in London are expected to fall significantly over the next three months, while prices in the North West are expected to soar. "

" 'First of all it's the Northern Powerhouse - because they've heard that much new infrastructure is coming to the North. And another thing is the railway,' she tells the BBC. "



" In one recent development at Salford Quays, called the Dock Office, just half the apartments were sold to local people. A quarter went to Chinese nationals, and a further quarter went to Brits living abroad. Julie Twist, an estate agent who specialises in Manchester city centre apartments, was surprised at how much money the Chinese were prepared to spend. 'The prices were hefty on those. But £300 a square foot is nothing to them,' she says. 'It's definitely pushing up prices, because they're bringing a lot of cash over here.' "


" The Chinese are not just buying Manchester. They are building it as well. The Beijing Engineering Construction Group is investing £800m in Manchester's Airport City, which will include a hub for other Chinese firms to set up. President Xi Jinping saw the site in person when he visited last year. The street names will be in Mandarin as well as English. "


" But property booms, like the gold rush, are unstoppable. Mr Wills-Woodward knows of one Chinese family who sold up in London, and drove up the M6 in search of new opportunities. 'Manchester is going to become the London of the North,' he predicts. "

Typical BBC journalism

Edited May 10, 2016 by Andy T

[long time lurking]

The journalist is Johnny Vegas i claim my £5

[R K]

As ive been saying the trade is:-

Short London:Long Manchester.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

As ive been saying the trade is:-

Short London:Long Manchester.

Legs?

[zugzwang]

As ive been saying the trade is:-

Short London:Long Manchester.

Short China: Long gold.

[whitemice]

I thought the BBC weren't allowed to show ads?

If they're never going to see their investment, can't we just sell them monopoly houses instead?

Yours for only 600,000,000 Yuan!

[Riedquat]

Manchester the new London? That's depressing. Why hasn't anyone come up with a better way of "improving" a place other than building obnoxious infrastructure all over it and making it busier and more hectic? If I wanted London I'd be working there.

[Andy T]

As ive been saying the trade is:-

Short London:Long Manchester.

Legs?

Ahhhh Longlegs, not been for a visit there for a while.

[monks]

After years of neglecting the north in everything from tourism to restaurant reviews, for the last few months, and almost weekly, The Sunday Times (property section) has run "love-in" pieces about the north. This week it was Liverpool, ramping the city's BTL potential, but also praising it as a place to live, work and invest.

Other recent articles have lavished comment on the affluent suburbs of Manchester.

There is certainly a new message being pushed out!

[Si1]

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/200m-now-feared-lost-liverpools-17461001

 

[Andy T]

3 1/2 years on, wonder how the Chinese did with their Manchester property investments?

Feck all investment in infrastructure since then (unless you count 5 extra tram stops in Trafford Park that's still WIP)

Quick glance at prices shows that Central Manchester property prices have gone up less than the typical suburbs surrounding Manchester.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Manchester is still a grade A shitehole.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

A festering malignant pustule of disadvantageous immorality.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Metrolink is opening the Trafford Park line on 22nd March.

Just as the Trafford Centre owners, Intu, go bust and the corona virus closes the shops.

I am calling the top of the Manchester peak. Maybe we don’t need the new airport terminal either ?

Edited March 15, 2020 by EmmaRoid #FBPE#JC4PM#GTTO

[Andy T]

On ‎24‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 09:25, EmmaRoid #FBPE#JC4PM#GTTO said:

A festering malignant pustule of disadvantageous immorality.

 A vandalised Mo bike dredged from the canal.

[Andy T]

On ‎15‎/‎03‎/‎2020 at 11:30, EmmaRoid #FBPE#JC4PM#GTTO said:

Metrolink is opening the Trafford Park line on 22nd March.

Just as the Trafford Centre owners, Intu, go bust and the corona virus closes the shops.

I am calling the top of the Manchester peak. Maybe we don’t need the new airport terminal either ?

Indeed, the timing couldn't of been worse. 

Metrolink line to Trafford centre is 22 years overdue, Peel should of paid for that from day one.

Trafford centre still open (just) but only it's the food takeaway units presumably, a tiny fraction of it's rent take. The 'Barton Square' bit across the road has been undergoing construction work to add a 2nd tier of shops too, this has been going on for months, maybe a year?

MCR airport running from just one terminal.