Buyers Return To The Alps Property Market As They Look Increasingly For Year-round Opportunities
There's certainly some changes in the Alps property market and the combination of factors including Covid hasn't helped British buyers. But the past two summers have been very busy in the Alps and the 'year round' factor is driving decisions when it comes to buying property in the mountains now.
- Existing property owners in the French and Swiss Alps managed to either utilise their chalets and apartments over during the last two summers, or rent them out to local nationals that could travel during the winter
- With travel restrictions easing, pent-up demand is now driving buyers to take action and look at Alpine property as an all-year-round investment opportunity
- This is happening due to increased mountain resort summer infrastructure and a desire to own private accommodation post Covid, especially during the busier winter season
- Specialist ski property website, skiingproperty.com, is noticing a trend in the market
There’s signs that British buyers are now returning to the Alpine property ski market as travel restrictions ease and countries such as France and Switzerland look to re-open ski resorts for this winter season.
Whilst Switzerland operated its ski resorts last winter, they were open mostly for Swiss nationals, whilst in France, resort ski lifts remained closed for the whole season. This didn’t deter many French holidaymakers and particularly property owners, from spending time in the snow over the peak season weeks - and existing British owners managed to take advantage of high demand, especially over the summer months, where some resorts experienced their busiest summer ever in 2020 and 2021.
As tourists saw the mountains as a ‘safe haven’ over the summer – lots of open space, far less crowded than beach resorts, they also experienced the kind of holiday that mountain destinations have increasingly been able to offer as their facilities grow. Mountain biking and road cycling in particular have grown and resorts see huge opportunities for tourism in the future during the summer months.
These resorts are helping to drive property prices as they offer dual season holidays for owners and those looking to rent during summer and winter. They offer world class skiing, but are also well placed to serve the summer tourist trade.
Julian Walker, founder of skiingproperty.com and judge on the Property4Media awards panel, said: “A ski chalet is not just for Christmas. But of course it’s nice to have one as demand over peak season weeks for ski holidays gets tighter. We’re definitely seeing a trend for people looking to purchase ski properties during the autumn and winter, but want to ensure the resort has great summer facilities too. Last winter, despite the challenges with travel due to Covid, a lot of stock sold through, mostly to buyers outside the UK market. This continues to put pressure on price and general inflation is part of that too, although buyers recognise the safe investment property offers, especially in times of inflation. The combination of all these factors, post Brexit as the dust settles, is seeing the largest increase in our UK customer enquiries for the past two years”.
