Prices of Alpine chalets soar

Chalets in the Swiss resort of St Moritz saw a 14% price increase between mid-2021 and mid-2022. Keystone / Martin Ruetschi

The average price of a holiday home in the Swiss and French Alps rose by almost 6% over the past year as hybrid working and a desire to be closer to nature boosted demand, a ski property index reveals.

Anyone who bought a chalet in the Swiss or French Alps this year has had to dig much deeper into their pockets than a year ago.

The average price of a four-bedroom chalet increased by 5.8% across 23 leading ski resorts in Switzerland (11), France (11) and Austria (Kitzbühel), surveyed between mid-2021 and mid-2022, the latest editionExternal link of Knight Frank’s Ski Property Index shows.

This is up from a 4.6% increase a year earlier and represents the highest price jump since 2014. It is explained by strong demand combined with limited supply, the ski property report published on Thursday said. On average, the price of prime property in the Swiss and French Alps rose by 13.9% during the pandemic.

Chalets in the Swiss resorts of Crans-Montana and St Moritz both saw 14% price increases over this period, followed by Klosters (13.8%) and Davos (13%). Verbier (8%), Grimentz (6.4%) and Gstaad (5.6%) were also among the big risers. In France, Les Gets (11.1%), Morzine (9%), Megève (6.9%) and Chamonix (6%) recorded large increases.

Owning a holiday home in the chic resort of Gstaad costs €37,941 (CHF37,277) per square metre, €28,266 in St Moritz and €27,757 in Verbier, the report said. In comparison, prices are slightly lower in top resorts in France and Austria – Val d’Isère (€20,900), Courchevel (€27,200) and Kitzbühel (€18,971).