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By Matthieu Cany, Co-founder, Sextant Properties

First established in 1896 and 1960, respectively, the Olympics and Paralympics are not only global sporting spectacles but highly sought-after events that many cities are eager to host and on which investors keep a close eye. After multiple withdrawals that left only Paris and Los Angeles in contention, the French capital celebrated in September 2017 when it was awarded the 2024 Summer Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Having previously hosted in 1900 and 1924, Paris will become the second city, after London, to host the Summer Olympics thrice.

The 2024 Summer Games are scheduled to be held from July 26 to August 11, but savvy investors’ interest in the Paris property market was piqued as soon as the city was announced as the host. To understand why, we should briefly examine the Olympics’ impacts on the previous European Summer Olympics host city: London.

The 2012 Olympics and the London property market

It doesn’t seem long ago that London opened its doors to commence the 2012 Olympics, welcoming more than 10,000 athletes from across the world. It was watched by an estimated worldwide television audience of 900 million, making it the most-viewed Olympic opening ceremony in the United Kingdom and the United States. Almost 11 million tickets were sold, of which 8.2 million were for the Olympics and 2.8 million for the Paralympics.

According to the GOV.UK website, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London cost £8.77 billion, three times the original budget of £2.4 billion, but resulted in the UK economy seeing a trade and industry boost in excess of £14 billion. Besides the return on investment, the legacy that any Olympic event leaves behind is particularly interesting to property investors, as host cities tend to transform the Olympic and Paralympic Village and its surroundings into residential, commercial or mixed-use opportunities.

For example, East London—where the event was held across the five boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest—and the Royal Borough of Greenwich witnessed noticeable increases in popularity among property buyers, as the areas were set to boast an array of new properties. Property prices steadily increased, meaning investors who bought into the areas early enough benefited from their portfolios’ healthy growth. According to data from real-estate platform Rightmove and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), some properties in East London saw values balloon from under £200,000 to above £400,000, whilst the average property price in Stratford in the Borough of Newham, the Olympic Games’ epicentre, rose from £209,000 to more than £500,000.

A press release published by Lloyds Banking Group in 2022, reflecting on the Olympic Games’ impacts in London 10 years later, confirmed the drastic increases in property values. Jayne Jones, mortgage and protection director, Lloyds Bank, commented, “Whether it is solely the impact of the investment ahead of the Olympics or a combination of other factors, such as the relative affordability of property, house prices in the East of London have outperformed the rest of the Capital by some way since 2012. Homerton, to the west of the Olympic Park, is the postal district in East London that has seen house prices perform best since the 2012 Olympics, rising 210% to £682,585. This is double the average across East London, and more than three times that of London as a whole. Waltham Forest (122%), Newham (98%), and Hackney (98%) have all outperformed their neighbouring boroughs, Greater London (61%), and England & Wales (47%) since the Olympics when it comes to house prices. Transforming a derelict industrial estate into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, together with the wider regeneration in the area, has attracted investment from retail, leisure, industry, the arts, and education, and has generated thousands of jobs.”

What could this mean for the Paris property market?

Property investors have hoped Paris 2024 would hold the same investment potential as London 2012, and many rushed to purchase properties as soon as Paris was announced in 2017 as the host city. Yet, it is not too late to still benefit financially, as a range of Olympic-related infrastructural investments are underway that are expected to add further growth potential to local property prices.

The Olympic and Paralympic Village is under construction and will be handed over in March. According to the International Olympic Committee, infrastructural investments are focused on numerous key areas. These include the centre of Paris but stretch as far as seven kilometres north into the communes of Saint-Denis, LÎle-Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, where the Olympic Village will be located. The Media Village will find a home in Dugny, Le Bourget and La Courneuve, introducing 4,500 new housing units.

Already, this has driven investment appeal in these areas but will continue post-Olympics due to ongoing infrastructural upgrades, such as the Grand Paris Express project, a major extension of the city’s transport system. As part of the Grand Paris Express project, Saint-Denis will feature a brand-new Paris Métro station scheduled to open in 2024. The station will be built over nine levels and accommodate 250,000 passengers daily. The Grand Paris Express is Europe’s largest transport infrastructure project and the fourth largest on the planet, with an estimated cost of €38 billion. Overall, the project comprises four new lines in addition to extensions of some of the existing lines. Two hundred kilometres of new tracks and 68 new stations will be created, serving more than two million passengers daily. Due to the size of the project, stations will open in stages, with the final ones opening in 2030.

Historically, Saint-Denis has been known as one of the more affordable Paris suburban communes, where the price per square metre was around the €2,000 mark. According to data from property portal Properstar, square-metre prices in Saint-Denis fluctuate around the €4,700 mark, whilst rents range anywhere from €700 per month for a one-bedroom apartment to €3,000 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. Still, there is potential for prices and rents to continue to rise, particularly after the Olympics, once the remainder of the developments are marketed.

What will happen after the Olympics?

In November 2024, once the Olympic Games have closed, the operators will begin a reversibility phase whereby a new, eco-responsible, functional neighbourhood will be created that will blend into the city of the future and contribute to the community from 2025 onwards. The neighbourhood will cover 52 hectares to benefit 6,000 residents and feature:

• More than 2,800 new housing units (2,000 family homes, 800 residence units);
• Student housing;
• Hotel;
• New schools;
• Six hectares of green spaces, including a public park in the centre of the neighbourhood;
• Planted areas for pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles;
• One hundred and twenty thousand square metres of offices, other business premises and services for 6,000 employees;
• Three thousand and two hundred square metres of neighbourhood shops.

Which areas should buyers and investors consider?

Although property prices in and around the Olympic and Paralympic Village have already seen uplifts in value, ongoing infrastructural investments will widen the areas with investment potential. We advise clients to consider not only Saint-Denis and the surrounding neighbourhoods but also the various parts of the city that will directly benefit from the Grand Paris Express network. History has taught us one thing: Buyers and tenants will always want to live near transport links.