JEREMY ROLLASON, HEAD OF SAVILLS SKI
2022 was another extraordinary year in the ski property market. The winter season of 2021/22 allowed many of the world’s ski resorts to reopen fully, bringing tourists back to the mountains – after, for some, a two-year gap. While the Western hemisphere’s season commenced largely unhindered, the Eastern hemisphere suffered at the hands of Covid-19. A shortened season did not deter buyers, however, even if they were unable to physically travel to resorts. Long-held ambitions to acquire a ski property were realised by many during the latter half of 2021 and the first half of 2022, with keen competition emerging among buyers chasing limited stock.
This added fuel to a trend that began in 2021, with asking prices being driven higher by opportunistic vendors seeking what, in normal times, would be considered a price premium. The last two years have, however, been far from the norm in this specialist market, with prices rising on average by an unprecedented rate since 2020. In Aspen, the same two-year period, average prime asking prices have risen by an astonishing 78%. And among traditionally more ‘affordable’ resorts, Chamonix and Morzine both experienced price growth of 41% during the same period, with Saas-fee and Wengen in Switzerland increasing by 34% and 38% respectively.
The European Alps are the birthplace of skiing, with the highest participating population in the sport, and remains the world’s leading ski destination. Attracting the highest number of skiers on average and maintaining the top spot as the most internationally visited ski destination, other regions are yet to compete on the same scale.
The ability to work from home is a concept that the Alps are quickly adapting to. Tourism and leisure companies are offering guests out of season deals for stays ranging from four weeks to three months and local businesses are adjusting to second homeowners occupying their residences for longer periods. 90% of Savills Ski agents said that property owners are staying for longer periods of time, and 60% said that owners are working remotely from their alpine residences.