London: Not Just Home To The 2012 Olympics

The 2012 Olympics is just days away.  London’s Big Ben will chime a record breaking 40+ times (for 3 minutes straight) at 8:15am on Friday, July 27th to ring in the Olympic games.  People from all over the world are flocking to the events ranging from swimming to cycling to tennis and much more. There will be days of celebration, fierce competition and recognition of the top athletes in the world.

London is not just home to the 2012 Olympics; according to the 2010 consensus there are roughly 7.8 million people living in London.  Compare that to Washington, D.C’s population of 617,000 via the U.S. Census and you’d have to figure they need a lot more housing than our nation’s capitol.

1 bedroom 1 bathroom flats (condos) in London range in price from £153,000 (~$185,500) to £12,000,000 (~$14,550,000) within a 5 miles radius of Central London.  The properties in London go for more than six times England’s average sales price according to the Fathom consulting report mentioned by The NYTimes.  Here in Washington, DC they range in price from $16,000 to a little over $1,000,000; making our market here much more affordable.

Location is paramount and both nation’s capitols have it so why such a huge difference in price?  Could it be the state of the Euro and the desire for investors to convert their Euro into non-cash assets?  This article on “Nervous Europeans Snap Up London Property” may offer some more insight.  According to The Telegraph; Yolande Barnes, a director of Savills said: “London, Paris and New York are now beginning to look good value for the global super rich, as they offer the relative price stability associated with more mature ‘old world’ markets, coupled with political stability.”

So if you’re traveling to London to see the Olympics up close and personal enjoy the local surroundings and expensive homes.  Good luck to all of the athletes!