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London Property �
London Property :
The Olympics Effect !
As we are celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II throughout 2012 , and with a successful organization of Olympic Games last summer , much has been made of the status of London ’ s real estate market . London remains in the top five global cities in regard to sought-after property with home - hunters and overseas investors continuously pouring in much of their cash . However house prices have witnessed significant swings over the past forty years , new research performed by Halifax has determined that property prices in London have managed to swell an incredible 189 % ( inflation included ) since 1971 , i . e . an average annual rate of 2.7 % above inflation .
How exactly were the ‘ benefits ’ of the Olympics defined ? So where does that leave the Olympics ?
House price data collected by Lloyd ’ s TSB for seven years since London was awarded the Olympics states that property values in the areas closest to the Olympic sites have gone up by an average of £ 60,000 . Standard - house prices in postal districts near the Olympic site have risen from £ 208,148 to £ 266,730 , i . e . + 28 %. The research also included 145 areas of London where the top performing one affected by the 2012 Games preparations was Homerton in Hackney ( one of the areas closest to the Olympic town ), sitting just 44th in the list with a property price increase of 56 % or £ 120,000 .
Surprisingly , seven of the areas affected by Olympic construction lay in the bottom 20 performing postal codes with house price increases ranging from 28 % to a meagre 8 %. People living in Stratford , the literal home of the Olympic Stadium have only seen increases of 13 %, less than half the average across the rest of east London . In stark contrast , the largest rise in London over the past seven years occurred in the Victorian area of the City of Westminster which has witnessed an increase of 156 %.
However , a Lloyd ’ s spokesperson ( one of the main sponsors of the London 2012 Olympics ) admitted it was difficult to tell whether these areas had benefited or not from the construction activity .
The statistics showed a trend of underachievement amongst areas affected by Olympic construction ; however , there is still a sense of optimism as the ‘ legacy ’ is expected to arrive now that the Olympics is over . The Olympic Village housing the athletes will be converted into 5,000 homes and with London ’ s solid economy ; there has been a sort of protection from acute price rises during
12 DORCHESTER December 2012