When Sydney was awarded the 2000 Olympics, residential prices rose anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent, said Sydney real estate broker John McGrath, and he thinks the same thing will happen if Toronto gets the 2008 Games.
McGrath said, “there was a tremendous jump in values in some areas. Many property owners started to put their prices up after the announcement”.
McGrath said the property in some areas such as the Olympic corridor, a series of waterfront residential sites, soared in value because of the massive redevelopment in the city.
According to a Toronto Star report, there are similarities between Sydney and Toronto. The Toronto waterfront is also being proposed for significant redevelopment, with the Olympics being a big part in jump-starting the process.
In Sydney, homes on formerly industrial waterfront land have made the harbour area a trendy place to live. A two-bedroom condominium goes for the equivalent of $400,000 and a three-bedroom for $750,000.
But although real estate values went up in Sydney, taxpayers there were told they are still on the hook for $78 million after the Games, despite a promise that the city would post a $22 million surplus.
Housing analyst Will Dunning said if Toronto gets the Olympics, house prices will invariably go up. “Housing prices rise because of the strength of the economy. The Olympics will certainly cause a lot of business investment in housing and retail and construction”, he says.
A Royal LePage poll released this month says a 2008 Olympics in Toronto could be a gold mine for homeowners. One in four Torontonians said they would likely rent their property if Toronto gets the Olympics.
A Sydney homeowner who rented out his or her property for the Games got an average of $2,800 per week, more than double what Torontonians expect to get for their residences.
Thirty-four per cent of Toronto homeowners believe that the value of their property would increase if the Games were held in Toronto, said the survey.
Royal LePage vice-president Gino Romanese said, “an event like the Olympics is usually preceded by a building boom that increases real estate values in the host city”.
Realtor Brad Lamb said, “if I was a speculator, I’d be buying up everything in the east end, all the old factories, the old industrial areas. I’d be buying the contaminated soil, whatever I could get my hands on.
