The Olympic Bid -What it means to property values in Park City!

With the Olympic Council naming Salt Lake City as the city they will push for the next Winter Olympics bid, several clients are asking me what this means for their investment. Here is a quick break down after analyzing what happened to Park City with the 2002 Olympic games and then what happened for the Vancouver area when the Winter Olympics were there.

There are different phases in how the lead up to being an Olympic city affect real estate. Presuming everything remains constant in our economy (interest rates etc) here are the phases:

Phase 1: Now until 2023 – pre-announcement

In this phase it’s a gamble if pricing will increase if all things stay constant in other areas due to hype only. The US Olympic council will be marketing Salt Lake City (nationally and internationally) along with news stations doing stories during this time as they try to get it selected as the venue. We could see a slight bump here in demand for houses as investors try to get into the market before the venue is announced.

Phase 2: 2023 to 2028 – Announced as venue and steady increase

Phase 3: 2028 to 2030 – Lead up to games

This is when people will buy houses in the area in hopes to rent them out during the games.

Phase 4: 2030 to 2033 – Popular City

This is when demand is at it’s max, the Olympics puts a huge marketing eye on the city and people are attracted to it to come live or buy 2nd homes.

About me: I have an economics degree from the University of Washington and love analyzing real estate economics, the housing market, data and trends. If you have anything you’d like me to analyze let me know. I am passionate about the Park City market and helping investors get great returns with informed decisions.