Ski resort properties holding their price
One category of property has held its value fairly well so far: ski apartments and chalets, especially in the most popular areas of the Alps.
The reason is simple: there is a very limited supply of new properties coming onto the market because development is so restricted in the Alps. This is not just because the planning authorities want to keep the environment from being spoiled, but because of the infrastructure requirements. When you're perched a couple of thousand metres up a mountainside, supplying fresh water and disposing of sewage is no easy matter.
The French Alps have already seen a massive influx of money from overseas property buyers - around €600m in 2005 alone - while it has been much harder to buy in Switzerland, where many cantons simply don't allow non-residents in. Some of the best value, then, is to be found in Austria and Italy, both largely overlooked by the Irish and British until now. Savills and its affiliate Alpine Homes are selling ski-in, ski-out apartments at Merano in the Dolomites (Residence Merano 2000) from €200,000; while at the Alpin See Mountain Resort at Zell am See in Austria, prices for two-bedroom apartments start at €180,000. Bargain hunters might also look to the Pyrenees and to Bansko in Bulgaria. Early indications are that last year's outstanding snow falls may well be repeated.
