The biggest winner at the 2012 Olympics was Stratford. It turned into property gold and has never looked back. Developers piled into the formerly drab east London district, sending new-build prices storming ahead.

However, young buyers who were unable to pay the high price tags at new apartment blocks did not miss out. They searched among Stratford’s older housing stock and were able to benefit from regeneration, while often enjoying more space.

Exclusive research from data analysts LonRes shows average values near the Olympic Park have grown from £171,081 in 2005 to £293,105 today, a 71 per cent rise. The wider Olympic borough of Newham is up 47 per cent in the same period to an average £370,000.

Over the past five years, both Stratford and Newham have begun significantly to outperform the rest of the capital. Since 2010, their average house prices have risen 60 and 43 per cent respectively, compared with 36 per cent across Greater London.

Nick Parr, a partner at Knight Frank, says: “The Olympic Park and the billions the Government has spent on transport improvements have focused the buying public’s attention on this area as a good-value residential district.”

Bernard Cully, head of sales at JLL City & East London, agrees: “The average price per square foot in prime Stratford — within a five-minute walk of the station and Westfield Stratford City — is about £800 to £850 a square foot, compared with £1,000 per square foot in Canary Wharf and £2,000 in the Liverpool Street area.”

A VICTORIAN TERRACE IS STILL A GREAT-VALUE BUY

According to LonRes, new flats sold in the last year have had an average price of £456,870 — well over 50 per cent more than the £293,105 for older properties in streets surrounding the main regeneration zone.

Yet the capital growth of new and second-hand homes in the area is very similar. New-build prices have increased by 78 per cent in the past decade, while second-hand homes have increased by 71 per cent. Look for value in the Victorian terraces. Stratford has streets and streets of homes like these, and many of them will have potential for added value if they are given makeovers and their lofts are turned into extra rooms. At 900sq ft to 1,000sq ft, they are not huge. The average price of a two-bedroom house in one of the streets just off Broadway is about £450,000.

Stone’s throw: homes at Glasshouse Gardens are close to the area’s amenities

If you have deeper pockets and are determined to buy a new build this year, you will have to be quick off the mark. The first phase of homes at Chobham Manor, within the Olympic Park itself, sold out fast, but work has started on the next tranche of 207 houses, flats and maisonettes. Prices have not been unveiled — the homes go on sale later this year.

They will be followed by the first homes at two other Olympic Park neighbourhoods, East Wick and Sweetwater, by developers Balfour Beatty and Places for People. The first residents should move in next year.

Glasshouse Gardens is well under way and the first residents are due to move in this year. Prices start at £433,000 for a one-bedroom flat.

This development is part of a wider £2 billion scheme, the International Quarter, which will also have offices, shops and restaurants.

Annual travel is now cheaper, as Stratford, Stratford International and Stratford High Street stations have become part of Zone 2. But fewer people will have to commute long distances, as many more job opportunities are created locally.

GET IN QUICK

The Financial Conduct Authority and Transport for London — among others — are moving into the area, bringing an active market for homes and jobs. Partly on that basis, Knight Frank predicts that prices will increase from current levels of £700 to £800 per square foot to £1,000 to £1,200 a square foot by 2018, when the opening of Crossrail should give east London’s premier regeneration zone another boost.

AVERAGE PRICE OF A FLAT

Source: LonRes/ Land Registry (surrounding postcodes include E15 1, E15 2)

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