Birmingham has been named the UK’s most investable city – and the sixth-best in Europe – by a prominent survey.
An annual survey of European investors’ intentions, which measures prospects, saw the city shoot up the rankings because of a fear of a property market bubble in global centres like London and Paris.
Indeed, while Birmingham was named sixth in the survey by Urban Land Institute (ULI) and adviser PwC – rising from 17th last year – London was only 10th. That was put down to prices being pushed up by sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and Asian insurers.
The report, Emerging Trends in Real Estate, A Balancing Act, states: “Regional markets are also having a renaissance.
“This is most evident in the UK, where Birmingham now claims number six, up 14 places. With London so competitive that respondents talk of bubbles and overpricing, attention is shifting to Birmingham and other regional centres – a move that Emerging Trends Europe’s interviewees indicate is being echoed elsewhere in Europe.”
While Birmingham has had a lot of positive press in recent months, this is perhaps the most significant in investment terms, with only first-placed Berlin, Dublin, Madrid, Hamburg and Athens ahead of it on the list.
Edinburgh is the only other UK city to feature in the top 25, at 19th place.
The research comes from a survey more than 500 of Europe’s top real estate investment experts by PwC and ULI.
It found they expected to see even more cash flowing into the European property market during the course of this year. One investor quoted by the survey said it was “time to take less risk”.
“The more we go up the risk curve, the more we go through the cycle and therefore every day you are one day closer to the next market downturn,” he said.
The Emerging Trends in Real Estate Top 25
1. Berlin
2. Dublin
3. Madrid
4. Hamburg
5. Athens
6. Birmingham
7. Copenhagen
8. Amsterdam
9. Lisbon
10. London
11. Munich
12. Milan
13. Barcelona
14. Warsaw
15. Stockholm
16. Frankfurt
17. Helsinki
18. Prague
19. Edinburgh
20. Istanbul
21. Brussels
22. Budapest
23. Lyon
24. Paris
25. Zurich
