房地产热潮像淘金热一样势不可挡

Lured by Finance Minister George Osborne'spromotion of the "Northern Powerhouse", Chinese investors are packingtheir bags and heading up the M6. They are not just buying homes. They arebuilding them, too.

在财政大臣奥斯本对“北方动力室”计划促销的诱惑下, 中国投资者打点行装, 沿着高速公路M6向北进发. 他们不仅买房子, 还建房子.

In the process the Chinese are helping tofuel the beginnings of a property boom and push up prices, particularly inLiverpool and Manchester.

在此过程中, 中国人正助推房地产热潮的兴起, 推高价格, 特别是在利物浦和曼彻斯特.

So far this year Hong Kong Homes, theproperty company organising the seminars, has already sold more than 400 flatsin Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield to Chinese clients.

今年以来, 组织讲座的香港房地产公司“香港居屋”已经把曼彻斯特, 利物浦和谢菲尔德等地超过400套公寓卖给中国客户.

Some of those investing will never come tothe UK in person. Others are buying for children who come to university here.

这些投资者中有些本人永远不会到英国. 其他人则是为到这些地方上大学的孩子买的.

The prices were hefty on those. But ￡300 a squarefoot is nothing to them. "It's definitely pushing up prices, becausethey're bringing a lot of cash over here."

“那些房子价格不菲. 但每平米300英镑对他们来说都不算什么.”“这肯定会推高房价, 因为他们带来了好多现金.”

The Chinese are not just buying are building it as well.

中国人不只在买进曼彻斯特. 他们也在建设它.

The Beijing Engineering Construction Groupis investing ￡800m in Manchester's Airport City. President Xi Jinping saw the sitein person when he visited last year.

北京建工集团在曼彻斯特“航空城”投资8亿英镑. 习近平主席去年访英时亲自视察了工地.

Apartment blocks all over Manchester arenow being built with Chinese money. Even a slice of Manchester City FootballClub has been sold to the Chinese.

遍及曼彻斯特的公寓区现在都是用中国资金在兴建. 甚至曼城足球俱乐部也部分出售给了中国人.

Their attitude to the Northern Powerhouseis stunning. It's insatiable, says Richard Wills-Woodward, an entrepreneur whohelps wealthy Chinese individuals invest in the UK.

“他们对北方动力室计划的态度令人惊叹. 他们永不知足. ”帮助富裕的中国个人在英国投资的企业家伍德沃德说.

He points to the 300 million middle-classChinese, a figure equal to the whole population of the USA - who have money tospend.

他指的是3亿有钱要花的中国中产阶级, 这个数字相当于美国的整个人口.

But a potential property boom is not goodnews for everyone in Manchester. The housing charity Shelter believes that theinflux of Hong Kong dollars will cost local people dearly.

但潜在的房地产热潮并不是对曼彻斯特的每个人都是好消息. 住房慈善组织“庇护所” 相信, 港币的涌入将使本地人付出高昂代价.

Ordinary families are already struggling tokeep up with rising house prices in those regions, and investors flocking in tospeculate on homes that haven't even been built yet will only push prices furtherout of reach. says Toby Lloyd, Shelter's head of policy.

“普通家庭已经难以跟得上这些地区的价格上涨了, 投资者蜂拥而至, 在甚至还未建起的住房上投机, 只会进一步把房价推得不可企及.”“庇护所”政策主管劳埃德说.