UBS Alpine Property Focus: New study on holiday apartment markets in the Alps
The vacation apartment markets in the Swiss Alps have developed more weakly than those in Austria and France in recent years. This is the conclusion of the new UBS Alpine Property Focus study by UBS Chief Investment Office Wealth Management.
In the UBS Alpine Property Focus study, published for the first time, UBS researchers examine 25 top vacation destinations in the Alpine region of Switzerland, Austria, France and Italy. In addition, 14 other Alpine destinations in Switzerland are analyzed. The study focuses on a comparison of home prices, location characteristics and market prospects.
According to the study, home prices in the local tourist destinations have stagnated since 2011, with the strong Swiss franc weakening domestic and foreign demand. At the same time, the adoption of the second-home initiative led to a construction boom in the Swiss Alps, so that the average vacancy rate almost doubled in recent years, the study says.
With a price level of over CHF 14,000/sqm, the destination of Engadin/St. Moritz takes first place among the Alpine vacation destinations, closely followed by Gstaad and Verbier. Outside Switzerland, Courchevel (FR) is ahead of St. Anton am Arlberg (AT) and Kitzbühel (AT) with prices above 12,000 CHF/sqm. Square meter prices above 10,000 CHF/sqm are widespread in the Alpine region, according to the researchers.
Falling prices in Switzerland
Prices in the three most expensive vacation rental markets in the Alpine region - St. Moritz, Gstaad and Verbier - are lower than in 2012. This contrasts with the top Alpine destinations in France and Austria, where prices still rose noticeably in recent years. In Switzerland, however, prices fell last year in all the top destinations in Graubünden and Valais - with the exception of Arosa and Zermatt - in some cases significantly. Lenzerheide recorded the sharpest price drop of almost 10 percent compared with the previous year.
The adoption of the second-home initiative led to a construction boom in the Swiss Alps, with the result that the average vacancy rate there has almost doubled since 2012 to a current 1.9 percent. But in the ten most expensive Swiss destinations, vacancy rates are for the most part significantly lower - only St. Moritz, Verbier and Laax have relatively high vacancy rates. Foreign vacation rental markets such as Kitzbühel, Megève and Cortina d'Ampezzo have significantly worse apartment occupancy rates.
