Downhill skiing and snowboarding are very popular today. The purchase of real estate in or near a winter resort opens up an amazing opportunity for investment – of course, if the place to buy is chosen successfully. At the same time, in addition to the traditional location, location, location, another rule must be taken into account – height, height, height. "The higher you live, the faster you will be able to get to the upper slopes - and as a result you will get the opportunity to ride on the best snow," says Joanna Yellowlease-Bound, head of tour operator Erna Low, who also entered the real estate market four years ago.
The decision to purchase apartments located as high as possible especially pays off in the long run. It's no secret that global warming has already caused significant damage to the snow line in the Alps and other mountain regions. "Some low-lying resorts are no longer enjoying the same success due to the instability of snow, and this process will continue. So strive for heights - for confidence in the future!"- says Joanna Yellowlease-Bound.
Stylish France
As you know, it is in France that the most famous ski resorts are located – Courchevel, Megeve, Val d'Isere and Chamonix, where real estate prices fully correspond to the worldwide fame of these places. However, the most successful objects to date from an investment point of view are located in less well-known villages that have only recently entered the ski resorts market thanks to the grandiose French program for the development of suspension roads. This is the opinion of James Rodwell, sales manager at MGM French Properties, who cites as the most striking examples the territory in the area of La Plagne (La Plagne) and several villages in the Grand Massif (Le Grand Massif), including Les Carroz (Les Carroz) and Morillon (Morillon), located half an hour away from Chamonix. "In France, several suspension roads are laid every year, so you just need to determine the villages through which the route to the mountain peaks will pass," advises Mr. Rodwell.
Investors investing in French ski resorts often prefer to operate under the leaseback scheme, which provides buyers with a guaranteed rental income and is attractive due to the ability to avoid paying VAT of 19.6%, which is levied on new buildings in France. Such conditions for investors in mountain resorts can be considered ideal. If you are engaged in skiing, then you need a residence where you can be guaranteed to come for a few weeks, and rent it out for the rest of the year without worrying about its fate.
Erna Low has recently completed the sale of a number of properties in the town of Ark 1950 (Arc 1950). The number in the name of the place corresponds to its height above sea level. This traditional Alpine village was built by the development company Intrawest, which became famous for its Aspen resort in the USA. The advantage of the resort is its proximity to the high–altitude ski stations Les Arcs and La Plagne. The objects, different in size and style, were commissioned last summer and were sold at a price of $260,000 for a furnished one-room apartment (with an area of 38 sq. m). Sales were on leaseback terms. In the lovely old village of Sainte Foy, where the ski slopes are at an altitude of up to 2600 m above sea level, you will be offered a two-bedroom apartment with an area of 74 sq. m. m for $570,000. This place is attractive with a good car access to Les Arcs and La Plagne, as well as plans to increase the number of lifts.
Immaculate Switzerland
The real estate agency Investors in Property, specializing in ski resorts, also sold objects in the Arch of 1950, but the head of the company, Simon Malster, believes that investors should also pay attention to Switzerland, where real estate is more affordable than in the French Alps. "In recent years, new construction in French resorts has been extremely rare, and demand has been high, which led to a jump in prices," he notes. "In some parts of Switzerland, prices in Swiss francs roughly correspond to prices in France expressed in euros, meaning you pay almost a third less."
Strict laws of some Swiss cantons do not give foreigners the right to acquire property or set strict deadlines for the transaction, so Switzerland cannot be called a market freely accessible to investors. Nevertheless, in some resort areas there is a place to turn around. For example, in Wengen, the German-speaking part of Switzerland, Investors in Property sold two-level apartments with two bedrooms with an area of 83 sq. m in Chalet Shiltwald at a price of about $360,000. "This is an advantageous offer, the cost of which was $3,200 per 1 sq. m. There are no new ones in our French catalogs real estate objects at a similar price," Malster notes. "At the same time, apartments in Switzerland sometimes significantly exceed their French counterparts in size."
From the more expensive offers on the market, Malster distinguishes Saas Fee, a village with limited traffic, located at a high altitude, in a valley next to Zermatt. Three-bedroom apartments and four-bedroom cottages are for sale here for $700,000-800,000.
Democratic luxury
What if your budget does not allow you such expensive purchases? Although the Western Alps are considered the main ski region of Europe, pay attention to other countries. For example, in recent years, the real estate market of Austria, which relatively recently joined the European Union, has attracted attention. Despite the restrictions in some areas that prohibit locals and foreigners from owning a second home, in addition to the main one, this market is interesting with prices that are often much lower than in neighboring Switzerland.
For example, the agency Austrian Properties, located in the UK, put up for sale for $ 175,000 an apartment with an area of 66 sq. m, with one bedroom, located in the Tyrolean resort Kitzbuhel (Kitzbuhel). A cottage in Schladming, divided into three properties, will cost $420,000, and a similar object in the town of Obervell in the federal state of Carinthia is estimated on the market at only $90,000 – however, it requires repair.
Tiny Andorra has long been popular among skiers. Recently, millions have been invested in the creation of huge ski resorts there, and it is not surprising that real estate prices in Andorra continue to grow and in many places reach $3,500 per 1 sq. m. In other Pyrenean regions, you can find one- and two-bedroom apartments located near the ski slopes for less than $ 140,000. However, Liu Thomas, director of the Pic du midi agency from the town of Bareges, located near the Tourmalet resort in the French Pyrenees, warns that investors interested not so much in buying real estate for their own pleasure as in investing money may be disappointed. "When buying a property in a Pyrenean ski resort, you should not expect that it will be spacious enough and have such amenities as, for example, a swimming pool that provides efficient rental in the summer. In addition, the location at a low altitude has its advantages in summer, but for the winter period this is a serious disadvantage due to the remoteness from the mountain slopes, - says Mr. Thomas. - In any case, you will have to find a way to recoup the cost of owning the property. If you need to pay a large mortgage loan, the final ratio of the figures is unlikely to suit you."
If you are interested in the cheapest possible "ski" real estate, then you will either have to look for it in the distance, or put up with the lack of proper comfort. So, prices for apartments in some resorts in Canada and the USA start from $ 147,000. Erna Low company offers two-bedroom premises with an area of about 110 sq. m. m for $270,000 in Mont Tremblant, a Canadian resort recognized as the best in the last seven years in the eastern part of North America. This resort is easily accessible from Montreal.
Another option is Bulgaria. Real Estate Agency Bulgarianproperties.com offers facilities under construction in the resort of Bansko from $60,000. A spacious apartment on the third floor with one bedroom and a good view will build $115,000. A newly built wooden cottage in the largest Bulgarian ski resort Borovets will cost $100,000. In general, Borovets will change in the coming years - a large-scale reconstruction program, designed until 2009, should make it modern and attractive in all seasons.
In the meantime, conditions at Bulgarian resorts are significantly inferior to Alpine standards, but Bulgaria's imminent accession to the European Union will be able to contribute to their modernization and further development. As for rental income, owners can expect to receive from $25 to $85 per person per day during the ski season, which lasts from December to April. The final amount, of course, depends on the location of the apartments and the conditions offered to the tenants. At the same time, capital growth is stable - over the past two years , the pricereal estate in the ski resorts of Bulgaria has grown by about 20%.
