The 37th America’s Cup and its huge Effect on Barcelona’s Rental Prices

Exciting News: The historical Sports Event sails into town in 2024

Going through a long and competitive selection process, it was officially announced in March 2022, that Barcelona has won the race to be the host one of the biggest and most important sailing event in the world

Why being the venue is a very big deal for Barcelona

Imagine hundreds of sailing ships with sails in the most varied colors, sailing on the horizon to compete and fans routing for their teams. Barcelona, a city with the perfect mixture of history and modernity, will go down in history once again by becoming the world’s first venue to host two of the most iconic sports events: the Olympic Games in 1992 and now, an America’s Cup Event in 2024.

The America’s Cup is the oldest international sailboat racing events, with the first race taking place in 1851. Ada Colau, the Mayor of the Catalan Capital, acknowledged the election, “it is great news for Barcelona! This should serve to promote the city to the world after the pandemic, to benefit Barcelona’s tradition of this sport in a city by the sea and in addition, to boost the emerging sector of innovation and technology, linked to nautical activities. I want to thank all the public and private institutions for their support and complicity in this project”. According to Damiá Calvet, the president of the Port of Barcelona, they made sure, that the port is available to the city and the country, as well as to boost the economy and infrastructure.

How does Barcelona prepare itself for the competition?

Barcelona already got the second most high population density in Europe after Paris, and now even more people are coming and search for a home near to the center (and the Port). So how does Barcelona prepare itself? Is there even space left?

We all saw in the past how Barcelona can adapt to anything: One of the most significant changes were made in Barceloneta, with the creation of two miles of beachfront using sand imported from Egypt. Barcelona wouldn’t be the same without its enormous beach area, which now stands for the city’s strong relationship with the sea. Maybe the Cup would not take place without the Olympics in the 90s. Due to the development of the Olympic Village, Poblenou became more popular and modern.

So what changes are made for the big Sailing Event? There will be shore side facilities for the teams taking part in the competition, plus an event village for the huge amount of fans, which is attracted by the sports event. But not only the fans will come to the city, people who will work for the America’s Cup will join them, too. Not mentioning the participants and their teams, some of whom arrive months in advance to prepare everything.

America’s Cup World Series in San Francisco 2013

The Effects for the Rental Market

As seen in Bermuda for the 35^th America’s Cup race, the rental prices in specific areas went up as a result of to the higher demand than usual. Johnettte McNeil, broker at JBM Realty and Associates, said some of the three-bedroom homes in the west end were able to get $6,500 per month or more for the America’s Cup, where it is normally about $5,000. The same effect could be watched in 2012, when the huge race took place in San Francisco. Especially rental homes with a view of the Bay could afford to raise their rents neatly. Above all, wealthy sailing enthusiasts did not hesitate to grab the best spots in the city, which are located in the beautiful apartments overlooking the sea and the harbour. Eric Baird, an American investor, stated that renters with that specific view can expect a higher price than normal. “We’re looking at capturing three to five times what you would typically get in a normal rental market,” said Baird.

So, based on the past, it is to be expected that a lot of Homeowners in Barcelona will follow the examples and will raise their prices. One even dares to say that not only the rental prices will be affected by the America’s Cup, but also the sales market will grow. A lot foreigners will come to the city and as the history which was written in 1992 by the Olympics showed, people just love Barcelona and once you are here, you don’t want to leave.

The Casamona-Team is ready for a hot mid-term rental market in the next two years, facing the many people involved in the Cup, who will demand to rent out apartments up to two years.