Olympic Games effect on real estate price in host cities
November 21st, 2008 | 
Author: 
House Price performance in previous Host cities
The regeneration effects from hosting an Olympic games has generally had a positive impact on house prices. Barcelona was the best performing host city with prices rising by 131% versus an 83% increase in Spanish house prices in the five years leading up to the 1992 Olympics.
Hosting an Olympics is usually associated not only with an increase in sporting facilities but also an upgrade of transport and cultural/leisure facilities. Barcelona, Athens and Sydney all saw a significant upgrading of their urban infrastructure and this city rejuvenation is likely to encourage higher house prices.
Areas close to the Olympic complex usually see the largest increase in house prices as they benefit from improved facilities and better transport links. This was clearly evident in the main area of development for the Sydney Olympics, Homebush Bay, a former industrial site 20 minutes from the centre of Sydney. House prices in the adjacent suburb, Homebush, rose 70% in the five years in the run-up to the Olympics, compared to a 50% increase in Sydney house prices.
The Manchester Commonwealth Games prompted redevelopment and rejuvenation of central Manchester and provided a spur to house prices in the area. In the five years leading up to the 2002 Commonwealth Games, house prices in central Manchester rose by 102% versus a 52% rise in prices in the North West and an 83% increase in prices across the UK.
Here is a recent link that shows an increase in home values with Olympic announcements in London. http://www.hbosplc.com/media/pressreleases/articles/halifax/2007-02-02-houseprice.asp
—————————————-
photo by Uncleweed
—————————————-
Follow up article on July 7, 2009, here.
Posted in 
It is very debatable whether this is true. Some earlier research has actually shown that the Olympics may aid real estate values in developing cities, but have little to no effect on developed metropolitan areas. Jones, Lang, LaSalle wrote a white paper on the issue a while back (http://iocc.ca/documents/OlympicImpactOnRealEstate.pdf). It’s one thing to look at the run-up to the Olympics, but I’m not sure whether a long-term look would yield the same conclusions.
As for myself, I’m not planning on a huge pay day associated with my River North condo in case we get the games awarded.
Hi Alex, Thanks for the comment! Hey, post again if you can; the link to the doc at iocc.ca doesn’t work. BTW I think you should get out of dodge for the 2016 Summer so you can rent out your hot River North pad for a ridiculous amount of money during the Olympics. I have a big townhouse in Lakeview. Hoping to get $20,000 for the whole thing for a month.
Thank-you for the article. It made for an interesting read. My area of interest is the “after Olymipic” effects on house prices of host cities. Is there a pronounced “hangover” effect on house prices due to the debt level most, if not all, host cities are left to grapple with? Do most international investors simply cash-out and move on to the next host city in search of high %, short term gains in the run-up to the next games? If you have any numbers on Sydney, Athens, Barca, Atlanta (China is a bit tough to gauge given its political influences) on for example: house prices 12-24 months after the closing ceremonies, I would be very interested to see them. Thank-you.