![\"citi-field\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/citi-field.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: iamNigelMorris<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nFor die-hard sports fans, there may be no better place to live than a home that\u2019s near their favorite team\u2019s shiny new stadium. But even those who couldn\u2019t care less about box scores, batting averages or hat tricks might want to start looking into those properties, if only as investments.<\/p>\n
When a stadium is built in a neighbourhood, it can increase the values of surrounding residential properties, a recent Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) report suggests.<\/p>\n
\u201cHomes in neighbourhoods close to new stadium builds (or proposed stadium builds), on average, have premiums ranging between 3% and 15%,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n
The Impact of Stadium Construction on Real Estate Values report draws on data from 13 peer-reviewed academic studies from around the world, all of which controlled for the effects of inflation and transit improvements, another property-value booster. The studies took place between 2004 and 2014, and examined real estate values around stadiums, with a particular focus on stadiums constructed in the last 20 years.<\/p>\n
Multiple factors determine how much of a premium a home near a stadium, used in the report as a catch-all term covering large-scale sports facilities from hockey arenas to cycling tracks, will command: the type of housing, parking accessibility, and a home\u2019s proximity to the facility are a few.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at most of the studies that were done, they see the biggest price increase within one kilometre,\u201d Melanie Reuter, director of research at the Real Estate Investment Network, pointed out. \u201cThat dissipates out to beyond four or five kilometres.\u201d Within a five kilometre radius, housing values climb 1.75 per cent for every 10 per cent decrease in distance from a major sports centre, according to the 28-page report.<\/p>\n
Reuter said the network looked into the topic because of the \u201cnew stadiums popping up across the country,\u201d such as Hamilton\u2019s Tim Horton\u2019s Field, which opened in 2014, and the 20,000-seat Rogers Place arena in Edmonton, slated to open next autumn in the city\u2019s new Ice District. \u201cWe wanted to see, well, how is this going to impact real-estate investors,\u201d said Reuter.<\/p>\n
One way stadiums help increase property values is through the new businesses that they attract to the area, particularly when a stadium is located in a less developed suburban area, said Reuter.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften, when a stadium or arena comes, there\u2019s other services that come with it,\u201d she explained. \u201cSo a restaurant could pop up and other things that even people who aren\u2019t interested in what\u2019s going on in the arena can benefit from,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Morgan Browne, partner at Oakwyn Realty Vancouver, has witnessed this ripple effect first hand in her real estate career of about eight years. Browne said that since BC Place, home of the CFL\u2019s BC Lions, was renovated from 2009-2011, per square footage prices in the vicinity have increased, partly due to development spurred by the project. \u201cWith the influx of amenities, the more people are drawn to the area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Rendering: Ice District Properties
\n<\/a><\/em>
\nHowever, Jay McInnis, a Vancouver realtor with Macdonald Realty, finds homes near stadiums are a tougher sell, in spite of the amenities that may come with them. \u201cBuyers that I have spoken to, the vast majority think it\u2019s a negative,\u201d said McInnis. He cited noise and \u201chow busy it gets during game nights\u201d as reasons.<\/p>\n