Brisbane’s Olympic Boom: The 2032 Games Are Already Moving Property Markets

When Brisbane won the right to host the 2032 Olympics, most people saw it as a sporting milestone.

But savvy property investors saw something else entirely — the beginning of a new long term property cycle fuelled by infrastructure, urban renewal, and global attention.

And it’s already happening.

We’ve seen this before — and we know how it plays out

Let’s go back to Sydney in the 1990s.

Strathfield — one of the key suburbs near the Olympic precinct — saw prices surge 79% over the decade before the Games.

That wasn’t a coincidence.

It was driven by billions of dollars in infrastructure and a sharp uptick in buyer demand.

Now the spotlight is on Brisbane.

And this time, the growth is arriving even faster.

Since 2020, according to PropTrack, Brisbane home prices have risen by 80%, with regional Queensland a little further ahead at 81.4%.

And in some suburbs, the numbers are eye-watering: units in Spring Hill are already up more than 116% in five years.

This isn’t just a temporary surge...in my mind it’s the early stage of a larger long term trend.

We’re still seven years out from the Opening Ceremony, and much of the infrastructure is yet to be delivered.

That means many of the long-term benefits — from improved transport and amenities to enhanced lifestyle appeal — are still ahead of us.

It's all about the infrastructure

In the three years following the 2000 Sydney Olympics, median house prices in suburbs near the new stadiums grew by more than 66 per cent.

UQ finance professor Shaun Bond told the ABC it's hard to isolate how much of that price rise was due to the Games, as opposed to other factors.

"In 2000 we saw both the property market and the general boom in the economy in the late 1990s," he said.

"You'd really have to do a lot of adjustment to understand what the Olympics effect was."

Professor Bond said hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games did not necessarily equate to higher property prices.

"What it does do is signal to the world, 'we are an international city and a popular region, we've got great universities and great natural amenities that are very attractive to people

Professor Bond said those factors, along with infrastructure upgrades, were more likely to support fairly strong house price growth over the medium to longer term.

"So, the new stadium, that's going to be very attractive in terms of not just the Olympics but future events."

New rail lines and train stations, Brisbane bus corridors, upgrades to the Pacific Motorway, and faster rail from Brisbane to the Gold Coast were all part of the government's Olympics plan.

"The Olympics and the Olympics timeline has focused policy makers and public and private investment to get things done, and that will help continue to bolster the appeal of Brisbane," Professor Bond said.

The suburbs set to boom

The new 64-hectare Olympic Stadium at Victoria Park is ground zero, straddling Herston, Kelvin Grove, and Spring Hill.

These are already tightly held inner-city pockets, and demand is only going to intensify as the Games draw closer.

But the Olympic uplift won’t stop there.

Here are the key suburbs to watch:

• Inner-city winners: Bowen Hills, Fortitude Valley, Woolloongabba, East Brisbane, Kangaroo Point

• Middle-ring beneficiaries: Tennyson, Boondall, Chandler, Belmont

• Outer and lifestyle plays: Parts of the Redlands, as well as strategic regional markets

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And beyond Brisbane, infrastructure and amenity upgrades are flowing into key regional centres that will share the Olympic load or benefit from related improvements, including:

• Gold Coast

• Cairns

• Townsville

• Mackay

• Sunshine Coast (particularly Maroochydore)

• Whitsundays, Rockhampton, and Maryborough

These markets are likely to see a combination of price uplift and rising rents as jobs, tourism, and demand increase post-games.

What this means for strategic investors

The smart money isn’t chasing hype.

It’s positioning itself for what happens after the Olympics.

Sydney taught us that the biggest uplift often comes after the infrastructure is in place and the city has redefined itself.

Between 2000 and 2005, for example, Sydney house prices rose by an average of 12.8% per annum — long after the Olympic flame had been extinguished.

Brisbane is undergoing a similar metamorphosis.

Here’s what to keep in mind:

• Follow the infrastructure: Suburbs near key venues, upgraded train lines, and new road links are likely to outperform.

• Look for lifestyle catalysts: Areas gaining new public spaces, cultural assets or dining precincts will become magnets for owner-occupiers and tenants alike.

• Seek scarcity: Landlocked, character-filled inner suburbs will be particularly attractive as Brisbane evolves into a more mature, global city.

• Units may present value: With affordability tightening, well-located apartments in Spring Hill, Fortitude Valley and Kangaroo Point may offer superior yields and capital growth.

At Metropole, we focus on investment-grade locations and properties, not speculative plays.

And Brisbane’s inner and middle rings now offer some of the best long-term opportunities we’ve seen in years.

Final thoughts

Hosting the Olympics is about more than two weeks of global attention.

It’s about what gets built, and what gets left behind.

Brisbane is transforming.

And if the experience of cities like Sydney and London is any guide, the Games will leave a legacy of higher property values, improved infrastructure, and a more vibrant, livable city.

But not all suburbs will benefit equally.

And not all properties within those suburbs will make good investments.

As I always say, strategic, long-term thinking is essential.

The window is open,  but it won’t stay open forever.