BRISBANE + THE OLYMPIC MYTH

There’s a particular kind of story that pops up every time a city gets the Olympic nod. It’s told with the same rhythm, the same glossy charts, the same breathless certainty: prices will skyrocket, suburbs near stadiums will explode in value, investors will cash in big.

It’s an easy tale to tell. Infrastructure spending, global attention, a ticking clock to 2032 - it all sounds inevitable. But if you look past the headlines and into history, the picture gets more complicated.

History isn’t a fairytale

Yes, property prices rose in cities like Sydney and London in the years around their Olympic Games. But the Games didn’t create those price surges. Broader economic conditions did - things like low inflation, easy credit, population growth and chronic undersupply. The Olympics happened during those cycles, not because of them.

In other cities, the story has been far less flattering. Prices ran up fast, then crashed back down once the flame was extinguished. Others saw almost no Olympic “effect” at all, despite the hype.

The lesson? The Games don’t sprinkle magic dust on the property market. They amplify what’s already there.

Brisbane’s reality check

Over the past five years, Brisbane’s housing market has already had a once-in-a-generation run. Prices have climbed nearly 90% since 2020 - more than any other capital. Affordability has stretched thin, and the median house price now sits deep in the “severely unaffordable” zone.

For prices to jump another 70% by 2032, as some headlines have suggested, Brisbane households would need to find almost a million dollars more for the same median home within seven years. Wages aren’t moving anywhere near fast enough to support that.

That kind of growth isn’t just optimistic. It’s mathematically strained.

What the Olympics do change

The Games bring jobs, projects and international attention. They soak up construction labour and materials, which tightens supply and pushes up building costs. They put certain pockets in the spotlight. They accelerate timelines for infrastructure that probably needed to happen anyway.

All of this influences the market. But it doesn’t create demand for permanent housing on its own. And it doesn’t override fundamentals like borrowing power, wage growth and supply.

The real story

Brisbane’s housing trajectory over the next decade will be shaped by the same forces that have always mattered: population growth, interest rates, incomes, planning policy and supply.

Yes, values could keep rising... especially if new housing supply continues to lag behind population growth. But a sweeping “Olympic boom” narrative ignores the nuances and sets unrealistic expectations.

Many Olympic cities have enjoyed the party, then faced the hangover. The real work happens after the closing ceremony, not during the fireworks.

Our take

Celebrate what the Games will bring to Brisbane. The energy, the investment, the once-in-a-lifetime moment for our city. But don’t confuse a global event with a market guarantee.

Buy and sell on fundamentals. Not fairytales.