Once every four years, the entire nation comes to a standstill. Unfortunately, in recent years, that hasn’t been for too long, thanks to England’s early exits from major football tournaments, but the FIFA World Cup doesn’t half have a habit of gathering the entire country around the TV screen.
This year is, of course, no different. Harry Kane’s dramatic last-ditch heroics against Tunisia saw the biggest TV audience of the year in Britain, surpassing even his namesake and Ms. Meghan Markle a little over a month ago.
It’s an event that never ceases to affect our emotions. England’s opener was case and point, not to mention the cheers, jeers, and penalty shootout losses from years gone by. But while the World Cup will certainly play out to release some form of emotion in the next few weeks, it’ll also significantly impact the price of our property.
At Property Rescue, we conducted a study and found that down the year, property prices see a significant increase following the end of a World Cup tournament.
Since 1970, when England failed to defend their crown, the price of property has risen after nearly every World Cup tournament. So, if you’re looking to sell your home, now is the time to do it…
By How Much Does Property Rise Following A World Cup?
The cost of property is set to rise by around 3.8% from the start of the tournament to the beginning of August and could go as high as 10% based on property prices following previous major tournaments.
Since Mexico 70, house prices have risen post-tournament 11 out of 12 times, and should that trend continues, the average home cost would rise from £224,208 to £232,728.
If like 2002, when Sven Goran Eriksson took England to the Quarter Final, the cost of the property was to rise by 10%, that would see the average property price hit a whopping £246,600.
The reasoning behind this increase is that fewer people are delving into the property market during the World Cup due to their preoccupation with the tournament, preferring to see England’s bid to bring football home over a new set of house keys.
That leads to a large spike following the tournament’s completion as people reenter the market and the usual summer rush of home-buying continues.
The Rise in Property Value Following The World Cup Table
What Happens When England Don’t Qualify?
What backs this idea up further is that on the two occasions property prices dropped or rose by less than 1%, England failed to qualify for the tournament.
The most recent of those dips happened in 1994 when Graham Taylor was famously unable to help the Three Lions qualify for the tournament in the USA. During this period, as England fans avoided televisions, the property market stagnated, seeing a 0.6% decrease in the average cost of a home.
Likewise, in 1974 when England was halfway through eight years without qualifying for the tournament, property prices rose by just 0.9%.
And it’s a similar story across the European Championship too. While the “wally with a brolly,” Steve McClaren can’t necessarily be blamed for a 3.9% drop in the property during Euro 2008, he can be blamed for a shambolic qualifying campaign that saw the Three Lions fail to qualify for the first time in over two decades.
That’s due to a consistency in the market, with fans across the nation less transfixed on the tournament as they are at this particular moment in time.
So What Can We Expect?
Over the coming months and a fantastic tournament, we can expect the property market to see a surge in prices between mid-July and the end of August. Over the past few tournaments, that’s been around 2-4%, and we’d expect that to be towards the latter end this time.
While the market may feel a little quieter now, the history of World Cup tournaments shows this is a common trend. For those who don’t follow football, it’s the perfect time to buy, but once that final whistle blows on July 15, the advantage may fall into the seller’s hands.