Good time to buy in the Alps

26th November 2015, by Dave Watts

Ski resort properties are more affordable than for years – prices for this luxury development in St Anton start at £250,000

If you have been dreaming of buying a chalet or apartment in the Alps, now should be a good time to act. The pound is as strong against the euro as it has been at any time since 2007. You now get over 1.4 euros to the pound compared with its low point of virtually 1 euro to the pound during the 2008 recession and 1.25 euros just a year ago.

The latest survey by property agent Knight Frank showed that ski property prices across 15 large French and Swiss resorts had remained largely static overall in local currencies over the last year – so they have got cheaper in terms of pounds. But price changes in individual resorts varied widely – from increases of 5.8% in Val d’Isère and 4.5% in Méribel to falls of -7.2% in St Moritz and -6.7% in Megève. For the full report see knightfrank.com

Investors in Property specialise in selling Alpine properties and say they are seeing continued interest in the Portes du Soleil region of France ‘especally Chatel, due to the attractive, traditional style of the village, large ski area and ease of access from Geneva. They have a new development of two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments there which is selling very rapidly. They also have apartments in Combloux near to Megève. Rob Keddy of Investors in Property says ‘Again it is close to Geneva and prices are much more reasonable than in Megève’. The Megève lift company has recently been taken over by the Chamonix lift company and the area will benefit from much-needed major lift improvements over the next few years.

Keddy says ‘In Switzerland, many of our clients love skiing in Verbier but are put off by the high prices there. So they are buying at a fraction of Verbier prices in the resorts of Nendaz and Les Collons which are connected to the same 4 Valleys ski area.’

The Austrian ski property market is strong too. Jessica Delaney is their Austrian specialist and says ‘the big news is that for the first time we have apartments available in St Anton – in a luxury new development with beautiful views and just 400m from the lift’. She also points out that ‘rental returns, at 4% to 6%, are greater in Austria than in the rest of the Alps’.

• ski
• skiing
• austria
• france
• switzerland
• verbier
• chamonix
• st anton
• property
• exchange rate

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