North West property market investment hits £709m in third quarter

Investment in the North West’s commercial property market doubled in Q3 to reach £709m, according to new research from property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).

Data revealed in the firm’s latest UK Investment Transactions (UKIT) report showed that, for the first time in a year, regional activity across the UK exceeded activity in London.

LSH’s Manchester-based director and head of capital markets, Abid Jaffry, said of the findings: “While UK institutions were the largest net investors into the North West commercial property market, accounting for 40% of total investment volumes in Q3, there has also been a notable rise in interest from overseas investors, which accounted for 38% of the total activity in the region.”

Some of the largest North West transactions during the three-month period included Frontier Properties’ acquisition of Houndshill Shopping Centre in Blackpool for £105m, the acquisition of 2 St Peter’s Square in Manchester for £100m by Deutsche Asset and Wealth, and the £62m deal that saw LaSalle Investment Management snap up Snipe Retail Park in Ashton-under-Lyne.

Significant improvement was seen in the region’s office market, according to LSH, where Q3 investment volumes rose by 135% against data from Q2. Additionally, the retail and leisure sector accounted for almost a third (about 32%) of the overall investment activity, totalling £226m in transactions.

Elsewhere, the sale of Chorley’s Matrix Business Park for £51m drove investment volumes to £164m in the industrial sector, which accounted for 23% of the total activity between July and September.

Abid continued: “The figures for the North West commercial property market are very encouraging and we are seeing an increasingly bullish market with volume far outstripping that of competing markets.

“We will end 2015 on a high note and this can only improve as we go into 2016.”

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