A MANCHESTER investment brokerage says it handled property deals valued at £160m in 2008.

Despite increasingly difficult market conditions, the investment team at CB Richard Ellis North West successfully advised on 19 deals throughout 2008, with a total value of more than £160m.

Ranging in size from £475,000 up to £56,700,000, the deals covered all sectors from high street retail to large industrial distribution hubs.

The largest deal, which came on December 23, saw CBRE secure 2 Hardman Street in Spinningfields, Manchester, on behalf of German property fund HANSAinvest, for £56.7m.

This was the largest regional office investment deal in England in 2008.

Simon Wood, senior director for CBRE's north west capital markets team, said: "Despite seeing a property slump the likes of which the UK has not seen for many years, we have still managed to make a significant number of disposals and selective acquisitions on behalf of our retained clients.

"We have continued interest from retained national and foreign investors in the regional market, who see certain sectors as offering good value, and we are working closely with these clients trying to identify the right opportunities.

"However, there is potentially a limited supply of the right available product, and this may prevent a significant amount of similar deals, in terms of size and quality, in 2009." Tweet