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On to a winner? House prices in the East End soared in the run up to London 2012… so could you strike gold buying a home in the Olympic Park?

The value of homes close to the main site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games increased by over £60,000 on average since London’s winning bid was announced - an increase of 30 per cent.

Now the Games are over, the Olympic Park is set to re-open in 2013 with 8,000 homes and sports centres galore. So is it worth buying one?

What a summer! And now the party is over, you may be wondering how to get involved when the 2012 Olympic Park reopens in a year’s time.

The site is being redeveloped into a 558-acre landscaped park. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park — the largest new urban park to open in Europe for more than a century — will welcome the public in July 2013, and include four miles of waterways, cycle tracks and lush landscaping. Winning location? Apartments in the athletes' villages are being transformed into homes Landmark in the making? Manhattan Loft Gardens is due for completion in 2016

More than 8,000 houses will be built on the site, with an emphasis on family homes. More than a third of these are to be classed as affordable.

The Games’ planner’s focus on regeneration of this once-neglected area of East London was one of the factors that swung it for London’s bid to host the Olympics.

Stratford residents will benefit from the Olympic facilities, with the Aquatic centre and Velodrome opening to the public and including a velopark with BMX and mountain-bike tracks. Not to mention £125 million worth of top-notch transport links on their doorstep and Stratford City — a new commercial centre for East London which includes the Westfield shopping centre.

‘The regeneration of the area is a big attraction — we’re seeing lots of young professionals who have been priced out of more fashionable East End areas such as Hackney and Shoreditch,’ says James Barton, of Knight Frank.

Homes in the Athletes’ Village, set to be converted into 2,818 one to four-bedroom apartments, will be available from autumn 2013. Just fewer than a third of these will be affordable homes managed by Triathlon Homes.

There’s a range of options — some will be up to rent for between 20-30 per cent below market value, while others can be bought on a shared-ownership basis. Prospective tenants and buyers can register at triathlonhomes.co.uk.

Building work on the first neighbourhood of housing will start next month, when Taylor Wimpey and social housing landlord London & Quadrant break ground on the first phase in Chobham Manor.

Set between the Athlete’s Village and the Velodrome, the 870 new terrace and mews homes — due for completion in late 2014 — will use the infrastructure built for the Games, such as the heating and telecoms networks, and fibre-optic Broadband.

Second to get going is likely to be 887 homes at East Wick in the north-west of the park, with staggered developments continuing over the next two decades.Those looking for something at the higher end of the market may be interested in Manhattan Loft Gardens. The 42-storey, 248-apartment skyscraper, next to Westfield, will have three ‘sky gardens’, a pool, spa and rooftop restaurant. Due for completion in 2016, prices start at £360,000, (020 8534 3318,  manhattanloftgardens.co.uk).

If that sounds too long to wait, there are several developments just outside the Olympic site that are nearing completion and still offer all the benefits of the new transport links and shopping centre.

Genesis Housing Association’s mixed-use development Stratford Halo, 500 metres from the park itself, has brilliant views of the stadium and Orbit tower.

Berkeley Homes’ Caspian Wharf development of 552 apartments at Limehouse Cut, also in Bow, has great views of the canal that leads to the Olympic stadium, with prices starting at £360,000 for a two-bedroom flat (0844 800 1152, berkeleygroup.co.uk).

Could you strike gold buying a home in the Olympic Park?