1. Birmingham has never been more visible on the world stage and is being heard by government – which in turn is attracting overseas investment!
2. HS2 in the first quarter of the year will create greater certainty and attract related industries to the city
3. Growth in residential sales values in Birmingham are set to outperform London and the national average
4. Attention from large-scale residential investors is likely to return as Birmingham becomes the first beneficiary of the big Housing Growth Fund investment into 2,000 new homes
5. Both the in-town (central Birmingham) and out-of-town office markets (M42 business parks) will see rental growth in 2017. Prime headline rents in the city are likely to push up towards £33 per square foot by the end of the year
6. Birmingham’s investment yields look very attractive, well ahead of most comparable cities in Europe including Barcelona, Cologne and Milan
7. In 2017, the investment market will see prime pricing remain and possibly push on again for the best in class assets, having risen to around five per cent over the past six months in Birmingham’s business district and Midlands logistics
8. Speculative development funding in the region’s logistics market will return in larger volumes
9. Industrial will continue to be the star performer, both regionally and nationally, delivering the highest total investment return of the commercial sectors in 2017
10. Occupier demand will remain above the national average. 2016 was a record year for industrial space take up nationally, with the West Midlands accounting for 40 per cent of the 24 million sq ft total
