The amount of US-owned properties in Birmingham has almost doubled to 8.5% in the last year.
According to the annual Who Owns Central Birmingham? research from Bilfinger GVA, this increase is partially balanced by a reduction in Irish-owned assets.
The report stated that while the quantum of space owned by overseas investors has changed little in the last 12 months, dropping by just over 1% to 28.6%, the mix of ownership in the city has seen more significant change.
The survey showed that 71.4% of Birmingham’s city centre office and retail stock is solely owned by UK organisations, a slight increase on the 70.3% recorded last year. Although this is a relatively small change, GVA said it disguises the strong level of activity seen in 2014, with a number of UK-owned properties bought by overseas purchasers, and vice-versa.
North American ownership saw the greatest shift, rising from 4.5% of the total in last year’s survey to 8.5% this year, supported by the purchase of the Great Charles Street Estate by Dunedin, backed by US opportunity investor Angelo Gordon, as well as Lone Star’s purchase of Moorfield’s stake in Brindleyplace.
A further 8.4% of the stock is jointly owned by UK and overseas investors – principally the Bullring shopping centre, which remains in joint UK/Canadian ownership.
The proportion owned by Irish investors has fallen to 2.9%, down from 4.6% last year, with a marginal increase in ownership by other European investors, up from 5.4% to 5.8%.
There was no change to ownership by Middle Eastern and Far Eastern buyers.
Last year represented a significant one for UK investment, with £63bn of transactions completed throughout the year – the strongest performance for almost a decade, according to GVA.
Ian Stringer, GVA Midlands regional senior director, explained: “With markets in London and the south east having become incredibly competitive, the UK’s regional cities are now more than ever playing an important role in ensuring that the UK can meet demand for investment in real estate, both domestically but more importantly from overseas investors.
According to the research, £670m of investment transactions – totalling around 3m sq ft – were transacted within the Birmingham city centre study area in 2014, with both domestic and overseas investors taking advantage of greater liquidity in the market. UK institutions and property companies accounted for over £350m of acquisitions.
The latest edition of the report is being distributed on the Greater Birmingham stand at this year’s MIPIM, held from 10-13 March in Cannes.
