BEIJING'S property market should not suffer as a result of the city losing its bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games to Sydney. The few speculators in residential property are, however, unlikely to turn the quick profit they anticipated. Beijing's biggest loss has been in the injected funds that would have been needed to upgrade infrastructure and build accommodation for the athletes and visitors. Most Chinese speculators would have been kept out of the overall property market for several reasons because local authorities were cautious and planning approvals took a long time, said Paul Burke, Colliers Jardine head of research. People who invested in residential properties, anticipating a sudden increase in value, would now be hoping to regain any losses in a successful bid for the 2004 Olympics. ''If Beijing had won the 2000 Olympics then many projects would have been fast-tracked, which would have speeded up the overall development in tourism and infrastructure,'' Mr Burke said. Although Hong Kong business people promised to invest heavily in Beijing property development, little has been done apart from a long-term ring project to improve the city's transport system with ring roads. It was anticipated Beijing would have earned US$1.14 billion from the Olympics. Leung Chun-ying, the managing director of C. Y. Leung & Associates, said as Beijing had not geared for the Olympics there would be no resulting downturn. Mr Leung said Beijing rents, prices and demand remained level, despite the city's desire to host the games. ''Naturally, if Beijing was to host the 2000 Olympics, there would have been a jack up in investor sentiment and end-user demand for offices, shops, and hotels,'' he said. ''As that sentiment was not reflected in the prevailing market, there will be no corresponding downturn.'' Regardless of last week's bid result, Beijing's real estate market was expected to continue to grow rapidly. The supply of prime office buildings, luxury residential and hotels remains tight, and demand high. Dominic Leung, director of Richard Ellis, said it was generally held that Beijing was not ready to host the 2000 Olympics: much of the necessary infrastructure would have had to be rushed to be completed in time. It was possible resources would be allocated more evenly to develop future real estate projects.
