The Times – Buying & Selling
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14049-1828976,00.html

The Times | October 17, 2005

Olympic boost for East End property prices
HOMEOWNERS in London’s East End are winning an early prize from the capital’s successful bid to host the Olympic Games in 2012, according to new research.

Rightmove’s monthly survey of asking prices will show today that house prices in Tower Hamlets and Newham, two of the London boroughs that will play host to the games, showed some of the highest gains across the capital last month.

The average asking price in Tower Hamlets, part of which will be redeveloped as part of plans for the Olympic Park, rose by 4.6 per cent in the four weeks to October 8, compared with the previous four-week period. Prices in Newham, which will be home to the Olympic village and main stadium, increased by 3.1 per cent in the same period.

The rises come on the back of strong gains made in the previous month, when Tower Hamlets prices were up 3.3 per cent and prices in Newham up 3.1 per cent.

Property prices in and around the London boroughs set to host the 2012 Olympic games showed some of the best rises across London in the latest figures. Prices in Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames, in the southwest of the city, fell by 4 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively. Elsewhere many boroughs showed marginal gains, with Kensington and Chelsea up 0.8 per cent compared with the previous month, and Lambeth up 0.6 per cent.

The Rightmove figures also show a return to growth in the average asking price across the UK. The average asking price rose by 0.5 per cent, or £941, to £196,348 in October, having fallen by £3,235 to £195,407 in the three months to September.

Miles Shipside, commercial director for the property website, said: “We appear to have had a soft landing. However, don’t expect the market to take off again until a refuelling by more first-time buyers, lower mortgage rates, and a continuation of realistic pricing by sellers and their estate agents.”