American visiting Manchester says ‘I was so surprised’ after making ‘shocking’ discovery

Kristin Wilson, who runs the Traveling with Kristin YouTube channel, revealed what she found surprising about the UK, including one thing that “shocked” her the most

An American who previously lived in the UK has revealed the one discovery that shocked her the most in Manchester.

In a video titled ‘American in the UK: 15 British Culture Shocks’, travel vlogger Kristin Wilson, who runs the Traveling with Kristin YouTube channel, shared a list of the things she found surprising about the UK.

Kristin, who previously lived in Manchester, pointed out things like how safe she felt, how much she liked the food, seeing couples shopping together for groceries, the “impressive” recycling, and the “common sense” signage.

However, in what she described as the biggest shock of all, Kristin revealed that she was particularly surprised by the cost of housing in Manchester, having already learned that London is “expensive.”

Kristin said: “But what’s probably shocked me the most is the price of housing here. Now, I know that London is expensive, but I didn’t expect the market to be so competitive in Manchester.

“I’ve heard that it could be because a lot of people are moving out of London to Manchester in search of cheaper housing, so maybe that’s putting some upward pressure on the prices.”

She continued: “But I was so surprised at how competitive it was here, even to the point that if you go to an open house, there could be 30 other people competing with you for the same property, and that’s something that you would see in New York or LA.”

Kristin said she didn’t expect this in the UK, adding that prices were “really high” and the market is “super competitive”. In September last year, it was reported that the price gap seemed to be narrowing between the north and south.

In exclusive Land Registry analysis, the MEN discovered five areas in Greater Manchester where average property prices were higher than in London, based on the capital’s previous 12-month average figure for a sold property, £694,731.

The five Greater Manchester areas were Hale Barns, Ashley, Bowdon, Dunham Massey, and Hale. That said, In London, other properties, including detached homes, have fetched an average of £1,274,365.

In 2025, UK property prices continued to climb with growth seen in every region, writes GB News. The North East recorded the highest yearly inflation rate, 9.1 per cent, climbing from 6.9 per cent in December, according to the ONS.

However, when looking at average house prices across England, a 4.8 per cent rise on last year was seen, with the average price hitting £291,000 in January this year.