Sunday, January 31, 2010

Olympics - No bounces or busts

If I've heard it once I've heard it a lot - the Olympics will increase sales in real estate. In Vancouver and surrounding areas there are those hoping to sell their homes during the two week sporting event.

They imagine that when millions of people come from across Canada and the globe to watch the Olympics they will fall in love with Vancouver, it's easy to do, and want to own property there.

Hunting for the Olympics Bounce: Any Evidence in Real Estate a new report out of UBC Sauder School of Business shows neither a positive nor negative impact from the Olympics on the value of real estate. This report focuses on cities in North America and Australia.

After living in Japan for ten years I did hear a lot of how Nagano was in serious debt from spending for the Olympics but no news of a real estate increase.

"If (the claim that the Games is an engine of economic growth is) true," the report states, "real estate in the host city will become more valuable. In this study we look at housing markets before, during and after a city hosts the Olympic Games to see if there is any evidence of an Olympic bounce through an increase in house prices.

"We find none.

"However, in contrast to the shrill warnings of the anti-games Cassandras, we also find no evidence of a downturn or slowing in price growth following the Games."

Instead they suggest the games might just be about enjoying excellence in the world of sports.

1 comment:

pjeary said...

I referred few investment and realty blogs and can say that it will take start of 2010 to appreciate values again. Thanks for this post.

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