倫敦奧運會引發天價房租

隨着2012年奧運會的到來，倫敦富人區梅菲爾的一套7居室住宅掛出43.3萬英鎊/月的天價。該住宅佔地有三個半網球場大，共三層，室內有游泳池、電影院等。除月租外還可週租，租金爲10萬英鎊。根據英國房屋租賃網站的統計，除了騎士橋區的一套6居室住宅也是一樣的周租價格，梅菲爾區的這套住宅目前爲止租價最高。預計今年奧運會將有1100萬參賽運動員粉絲、媒體、企業客戶前來參觀，倫敦業主須增加6倍供應量才能滿足租賃需求。根據去年的調查，如果倫敦1/3的業主考慮出租房屋，整個奧運期間的租賃市場規模將達3.14億英鎊。倫敦豪宅市場受到海外投資者的追捧迅速升溫，在2009年3月至去年12月，豪宅價格大漲39.5%。

A seven-bedroom house in London's upmarket Mayfair district will likely set a British record rent of 433,000 pounds per month as landlords cash in on demand for space during this summer's Olympic Games.

The house has a floor space equivalent to three and a half tennis courts spread over three floors and includes a swimming pool, cinema and seven bathrooms. It can be also rented for 100,000 pounds a week.

In addition to a six-bedroom flat near the Harrods store in Knightsbridge that is for rent at the same weekly sum, it is the most expensive home on the website, which displays houses being marketed by major estate agents.

"The figure is unprecedented for an open-market rental," said Jemma Scott, head of residential corporate services at real estate agency Knight Frank. "It is purely due to the Olympics which, as a rule of thumb, will see monthly rents become weekly rents before reverting to normal after the Games."

The house would likely attract interest from overseas individuals in the Far East, Middle East and Russia, she said.

London homeowners are increasing rents by up to six times to meet demand from an estimated 11 million sports fans, media and corporate clients who will come to the city for the world's biggest sporting event this summer.

The total Olympics rental market for flats, apartments or houses could be worth 314 million pounds, based on one in three homeowners considering letting out some or all of their properties, according to a survey by last year.

The luxury end of London's housing market has been buoyed by demand from overseas investors looking to shield their wealth from the euro zone crisis and Arab spring uprisings. Prices for the best homes rose 39.5 percent between March 2009 and last November, Knight Frank said.

Renting homes was popular among certain wealthy individuals as it provided a greater level of privacy than a hotel, Scott said.