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Tag: Alpenraum

  • Holiday apartment market in the Alpine region shows stable demand despite price decline

    Holiday apartment market in the Alpine region shows stable demand despite price decline

    The UBS Alpine Property Focus 2025 evaluates the development of the holiday apartment market in the Alpine region. Five Swiss destinations top the price ranking. Engadin/St.Moritz GR takes first place with at least 22,300 francs per square metre. The top 5 are completed by Verbier VS, Zermatt VS, Gstaad BE and Andermatt UR. Prices for Alpine holiday flats rose by 2.3 per cent last year amid high demand.

    The emergence of hybrid forms of work after 2020 triggered the current high demand, according to a press release from UBS. Alpine holiday flats have become around 30 per cent more expensive since 2020. The year 2024 saw subdued price increases in the Alpine region. Prices in French and Italian destinations rose by an average of 4 per cent and in Swiss locations by 3 per cent. In Austria, they fell by 3 per cent.

    “In the short term, the price trend in the Alpine region is likely to weaken further over the next few quarters,” says Maciej Skoczek, property economist at UBS and lead author of the study. Alpine holiday flats are in high demand, but the subdued economic outlook and inflation are weighing on households, says the economist.

    The study assesses the prospects for Swiss property positively. In the face of geopolitical turbulence, this property is very popular as a safe investment. Lower mortgage interest rates and a low supply of holiday flats are also supporting Swiss prices.

    The study sees risks for the holiday apartment market in regulatory intervention: The relaxation of the Second Homes Act is likely to ease the supply situation, while the planned tightening of the Lex Koller will regulate property purchases for foreigners more strictly, according to UBS. These interventions will dampen the price trend in the luxury segment.

  • Price increase for holiday flats in the Alps

    Price increase for holiday flats in the Alps

    Prices for holiday flats in the Alpine tourist region were 4 per cent higher in the first quarter of 2024 than in the same quarter of the previous year, UBS reports in a press release on its “Alpine Property Focus 2024″ study. With prices of at least CHF 21,500 per square metre for a second home in the high-end segment, Verbier has replaced the previous leader Engadin/St. Moritz GR. There, holiday flats in the high-end segment are available from CHF 21,200 per square metre. Zermatt VS completes the trio of the most expensive destinations with prices per square metre starting at CHF 19,900.

    The experts at the Zurich-based major bank attribute the price increase to a generally high demand for holidays in mountain destinations. Fully booked hotels at peak times increase the willingness to pay for a holiday home. The price level is also being supported by the strong demand for property and weak new construction activity.

    However, property experts expect prices for second homes to stagnate this year. “At present, there is much to suggest that the current price boom will not continue,” says Maciej Skoczek, property economist at UBS CIO GWM and lead author of the study, in the press release. “The economic downturn will dampen demand for second homes. Prospective buyers are likely to scrutinise the asking prices more critically.” In the medium term, UBS believes that demand will be supported by the affluent members of the baby boomer generation and from abroad.

  • Second home prices soar

    Second home prices soar

    In a press release , the major Zurich bank UBS informed about an increase in the price of holiday apartments in the Alpine region. With a price increase of almost 10 percent, residential real estate has reached its highest level in the past twelve years. Arosa GR, Engelberg OW, Flims/Laax GR and the Jungfrau Region, where prices have risen by 15 percent, are most affected.

    Based on the findings of the Alpine Property Focus study, UBS explains the price increase, among other things, with a decline in supply and increasing demand. As a result of the corona pandemic, working from anywhere has become attractive. Many working people have moved their desk and primary residence to the holiday regions.

    Furthermore, held back sales have led to the tense supply situation on the residential real estate market. According to this, many owners would have refrained from a planned sale of the holiday apartment because of their own needs for their home office.

    The Second Homes Act, which has been in force since 2012, has also had an unfavorable effect, ordering a de facto freeze on the construction of second homes in tourist regions. However, the stable value of residential real estate is said to be unaffected by the lack of new housing construction.

    As a result of the high capital costs when buying a holiday home and rising interest rates at the same time, the demand for holiday homes is likely to fall again, according to experts. The real estate economist at UBS, Maciej Skocz, quoted in the study, also includes the increased energy costs and expects “a good third higher usage costs” for an “average holiday home” for 2023 compared to the “beginning of the second home boom in 2020”. In the medium term, the expected increase in the supply of second homes will regulate the current price explosion again.