Zoopla.co.uk: Olympic Area Property Values Outstripping Rest of UK

MANCHESTER, England, July 27, 2011 -

- According to Zoopla.co.uk, property prices around Olympic sites are up 11.9% since the Games were announced; this figure outstrips the average UK house price growth over the same period -

Property prices in close proximity to the UK Olympic venues have recorded an 11.9% increase since the Games were awarded to London in July 2005, outstripping the UK average of 7.2% over the same period, according to property website Zoopla.co.uk.

Over £30bn has been added to the total value of residential properties located in close proximity to the UK Olympic sites since the announcement, with £6.4bn in added-value to house prices in East London alone. The budget for delivering the Olympics is currently on target at £9.3bn with exactly one year to go.

Outside London, properties nearby seven of the ten major Olympic venues have recorded noticeably higher price growth than the surrounding areas. In Lee Valley, Hertfordshire, where the White Water Centre has been developed for canoeing events, house prices have risen 12% since the announcement compared to 7.2% growth on average in the region. And in Eton Dorney, where the rowing facility has been upgraded to accommodate the Olympics, average home values have risen 14.3% compared to the regional average of 8.2%.

However, in London, property values in direct proximity to the Olympic venues have underperformed, having risen 18.9% since the games were awarded compared to overall London house price growth of 27.2% since July 2005.

Nicholas Leeming, business development director of Zoopla.co.uk, said: “There’s no doubt that the redevelopment to a number of areas across the UK as a result of the Olympics has had a positive impact on property prices. Much of the focus to date has been on East London but there are many other areas benefitting from the investment and attention of the Olympics. The underperformance of the London venues says far less about the Olympics than it does about the price of property for sale in London which has outperformed the rest of the UK by a wide margin in the last few years. And it is unlikely that property in East London would have seen anything like the value growth it has recorded without the Olympics.”

About Zoopla.co.uk

Zoopla.co.uk is the UK’s most comprehensive property website, focused on empowering consumers with the resources they need to make better-informed property decisions. We help our users make sense of the residential property market by combining property listings with market value data, local information and community tools.

Zoopla.co.uk (www.zoopla.co.uk) was founded on the principles of transparency and efficiency and everything we do aims to make the market more effective for both property consumers and professionals alike. Our mission is to provide the most useful online property experience by:

• displaying property listings along with value and price trend information
• providing rich property data and local market information in one place
• enabling users to search for property in a variety of customised ways
• allowing users to engage with professionals via our tools like AskMe!
• building relationships between home owners and local estate agents

By combining free, instant value estimates for every UK home with sold prices, local market information and hundreds of thousands of properties available for sale and to rent, Zoopla.co.uk has become the ultimate destination for property consumers to search for property and do their market research. We are the UK’s fastest growing property website and are proud to have been named ‘Best Property Portal 2009′ (Daily Mail UK Property Awards).

Our unique features, like AskMe!™ and TemptMe!™ allow users to gain an insight into the market and discover information they won’t find anywhere else. And our AskAnAgent feature has rapidly become one of the most valued sources of vendor leads for UK estate agents. We calculate our value estimates using a proprietary algorithm (secret formula) that continuously analyses millions of data points relating to property sales and home characteristics throughout the UK. Our estimates are constantly refined, using the most recent data available and a variety of methodologies, in order to provide the most current information on any home.

Zoopla Ltd is a privately held company with a highly experienced and proven management team, backed by well-respected angel investors and leading venture capital firms Atlas Venture and Octopus Ventures.

For more information about Zoopla.co.uk become a fan on Facebook or follow @Zoopla.

For further information, please contact: Lawrence Hall at lawrence.hall at zoopla.co.uk or on +44(0)20-7620-4618