Manchester property boom is showing no sign of slowing down any time soon

The booming housing market in Manchester is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon – according to one of the country’s leading property firms.

The residential team at JLL says it sold 141 homes in the city centre in the first quarter of the year, a 200 per cent year-on-year increase.

JLL is currently marketing apartments at eight new-build developments in Manchester.

And the firm says the increase in sales is a result of the continued high levels of demand for homes in the city from both owner occupiers and buy-to-let investors.

Activity in the city centre’s resale market is also showing continued momentum, according to the consultant’s figures – with homes receiving multiple offers and 98 per cent achieving asking price.

The news follows the release of JLL’s 2018 house price growth predictions for Manchester city centre in February. The consultant has forecast that average house prices in Manchester will rise by 6.5 per cent over the year – with 22.8 per cent growth expected by 2022.

Stephen Hogg, lead director, regional residential at JLL, said: “The simple fact is that Manchester has seen the most consistently strong house price growth in the UK over the last five years. It has a similar supply issue to many areas across the country but higher levels of demand from both owner occupiers and investors.

“As well as driving house prices, this demand has been a catalyst for huge growth in build-to-rent development – a market where there’s also significant demand.

“While there are thousands of new units being built in the city, across different tenures, the city’s projected population growth and increasing graduate retention rate means we’re still some way off closing the gap between supply and demand.”