Taylor Scott International News
Demand for Alpine property is rising, spurred on by a more resilient Eurozone, greater clarity over tax and the second home cap in Switzerland, as well as a weaker euro, the latest index report says. Val d’Isere and Meribel in France have seen the biggest annual growth in property prices with a rise of 5.8% and 4.5% respectively, according to the 2015 Ski Property Index from international real estate firm Knight Frank. The index, which tracks the price performance of prime ski chalets across 15 key resorts in the French and Swiss Alps, indicates that prime sales activity in the French Alps is focussed between €1.5 and €2.5 million with resorts such as Chamonix and Courchevel 1550 increasingly popular. It also shows that the number of sales completed in Megeve in the first half of 2015 was double the number of sales agreed during the whole of 2014 and adds that previous uncertainty in the Swiss market is giving way to renewed optimism as clarity emerges surrounding taxation and the second home cap. Overall it says that the market is broadly stable with only 13% percentage points separating the strongest and weakest performer and currency movements have played a pivotal role in determining demand across the region. French resorts occupy the top five rankings this year as uncertainty surrounding Lex Weber in Switzerland dampened sales, and as a result price growth. In the past year ski homes in Europe’s top resorts have continued on the same trajectory that they have been following since 2008; no radical acceleration or deceleration just small single digit shifts year on year. Overall, the index proved largely static with only a marginal 1% fall recorded in the year to June 2015 and explains that in the case of a resort like Val d’Isere, for example, the length of its ski season explains its long standing appeal, particularly with British buyers. Few other Alpine resorts can guarantee sufficient snow to ski during both the Christmas and Easter holiday periods, it continues and in Meribel’s case, a combination of its location in the heart of The Three Valleys and its pricing explains its annual growth. Meribel provides better value than Courchevel 1850, but can compete with 1550 and 1650 in terms of facilities. Investment in the form of new residential developments such as Olympe in Les Allues and Point de Vue in Meribel Village has also helped to build confidence amongst buyers. In real price terms, the exclusive resorts of Courchevel 1850 and Gstaad come out on top, with prime prices typically around €25,000 and CHF30,000 per square meter respectively. A prime ski chalet in Gstaad is, on this basis, four times the price of an equivalent property in the French resort of St Gervais. The report also shows that in the French Alps, the focus of sales activity in the last 12 months has been within the €1.5 million and €2.5 million price bracket. The super prime market at… Taylor Scott International
Taylor Scott International, Taylor Scott
