Manchester City’s Soccer Stadium Helps Homeowners Outdo United
Soccer fans on the east side of the
city of Manchester are outdoing crosstown rival Manchester
United in more than the English Premier League standings.
Home prices near the Etihad Stadium of league champion
Manchester City gained 271 percent since the venue opened a
decade ago, about three times the 91 percent increase near
United’s 102-year-old Old Trafford, according to a study of
Premier League cities by mortgage lender Halifax released today.
Newer soccer stadiums have produced the best results, with
four of the five largest gains in homes located near arenas
built in the past 15 years, according to Halifax, a unit of
Lloyds Banking Group Plc. (LLOY) City’s stadium was built for the 2002
Commonwealth Games in one of the U.K.’s poorest neighborhoods,
increasing the impact of infrastructure improvements on the
local housing market. City moved in a year later.
“East Manchester was a run-down, post-industrial area,”
Suren Thiru, a Lloyds housing economist, said by telephone. “To
coincide with the Commonwealth Games, the whole area was
regenerated.”
The soccer season kicks off today. Manchester City is the
bookmakers’ favorite to retain the English league championship
after winning its first in 44 years in May. Manchester United is
the second choice.
Sheikh Mansour
The average increase in home prices near Premier League
stadiums was 137 percent over the past 10 years, outpacing the
90 percent gain in all of England and Wales, Halifax said.
Manchester City, owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
leases its stadium from the local government. In July 2011, the
club was given permission to rename the stadium after selling
sponsorship rights in return for paying the council 20 million
pounds over five years.
The club bought about 80 acres (32 hectares) of land around
Category: Sports
