The Olympics for a moment lifted the nation out of its post credit-crunch depression in a way that few national events could ever achieve. But did the near hysteria during the first Olympic instalment help or hinder our ailing property market? Taxi-borne Spice Girls, a gold medal haul that would put the most successful pirate to shame and a faultless performance by the organisers – including the purple pointers or ‘games makers’ –enthralled the nation. And with the Paralympics underway, it’s going to a repeat performance until September 9 when the games close.
Large national events such this including football league finals, bank and school holidays and royal weddings shut down the property market momentarily as buyers and sellers set aside viewings, mortgage applications and conveyancing niggles to concentrate on the main event.
Christmas is the best example – when the market comes to complete standstill from around December 20 until the New Year. Such a stand-down took place during the run up to – and during – the August games when several organisations recorded drops in house prices, including in one instance 2.4 per cent.
But before anyone panics, consider that July and August are always quiet months as Britons make for the Mediterranean. So the Olympics have just made this trend worse. But the thrilling end to the Olympics and its aftermath – the ‘MoGlo’ as some have dubbed it – may help pick the market up again, figures show.
Visits to property website Zoopla.co.uk during the first three weeks of August were up by 45 per cent when compared to the same period last year, a trend which many estate agents say has been created by pent-up demand locked down by the Olympics springing forth. It’s a boost the property market needs.
While buyers have been staying away sellers have been dropping their prices lower and lower in a bid to attract offers including recently within the ‘prime market’ which until now had been thriving despite the recession.
