Christie's International Real Estate Affiliates Report on the Season's Coolest Ski Destinations
Over the course of this ski season American resorts play host to more than 60 million visitors; winter sports seem to be more popular than ever. Winter sport fans are increasingly looking beyond just the odd week of adrenalin-filled activity and the trend of owning a permanent ski heaven is becoming a popular lifestyle choice among HNWIs. The trend is set to grow as it is swiftly adopted by buyers from Russia, China, and Asia—highlighting that property prices are holding up well in key resorts.
Because 97% of the land surrounding Jackson Hole is protected from development, development is closely controlled in the Teton Region. The two local ski areas, the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Snow King Resort, have been entertaining skiers since the 1920s and this year the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is expanding their intermediate skiing with another chairlift and even more terrain. Snow King Resort has recently changed hands and is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation. The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort features the most dramatic vertical drop in North America and is widely touted as unlike any other ski destination in the world. To the northwest of the Town of Jackson, Alta, Wyoming is home to Grand Targhee Mountain Resort which offers some of the best powder skiing in North America. Grand Targhee is an emerging ski area with plans for further expansion.
“We’ve seen some pricing appreciation in 2012 as buyers are developing more confidence in a recovering US real estate market and we expect that stability to continue through, with more solid appreciation during 2013. Slope side luxury homes and condominiums at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort can range anywhere from $900 per square foot to $1500 per square foot,” says Julie Faupel, Owner-Associate Broker Jackson Hole Real Estate Associates.
Buyers are lifestyle and amenity focused in this destination. A home on the slopes in Jackson Hole is a legacy property, where families intend to spend quality time together in a relaxed environment with activities and amenities to suit all interests and age demographics. Proximity to skiing and outdoor activities drives buying decisions – most buyers are coming from hectic urban environments and they simply want a home in the mountains where they can be “away from it all” while still being close to the lifestyle activities that first attracted them to Jackson Hole. The properties located with close proximity to the ski slopes or directly on the ski slopes are in high demand which has continued through the economic downturn.
The most glamorous ski resort in the US, Aspen, is renowned as the winter playground of the rich and famous; you might bump into Michael Douglas, Donald Trump, Kevin Costner, or Martina Navratilova on the slopes. The town is set in the beautiful White River National Forest, and offers a choice of four mountains – the Snowmass ski area – and 3,000 acres of skiable terrain. The historic town is more than 100 years old and has an abundance of tastefully restored old-world charm.
In downtown Aspen, just two blocks from the gondola, Joshua & Co is offering an immaculate two-level, three-bedroom condominium with top-of-the range fittings for US$1.099 million.
Refreshingly unpretentious, Telluride has a free gondola linking the town to the mountains, and high-speed chairlifts that carry skiers to more than 12,500 feet. Buyers are also likely to be impressed by the value for money the area offers.
Telluride Real Estate Corp is offering two properties in the area. Butch Cassidy Drive is a stunning ski-in/ski-out, five-bedroom home with its own spa, gym, wine cellar, and private ski funicular linking the house to the Sundance ski run. The lodge is listed at US$15 million. The 93-acre Ptarmigan Ranch Retreat has five bedrooms, more than 8,000 square feet of living space, and is on the market for US$3.75 million.
In Europe, for over 150 years St Moritz has been known as the world’s most glamorous ski resort. Other great performing ski resort areas in Switzerland include Davos Klosters and Flims Laax. “Prices for luxury residential properties in these areas have been stable since last year. The current price per square meter for this type of properties is between CHF 30,000 and CHF 50,000 with buyers coming from Europe mainly,” says Michael Blaser from Wüst und Wüst AG, Exclusive Affiliate in the German speaking part of Switzerland.
Ticino is not really known as a winter sport destination. Ski enthusiasts who live there usually go skiing in the morning and are back in the afternoon as it is close to various well-known local resorts like Bosco Gurin and Ariolo. For a long weekend, people like to go to St. Moritz (only 3.5 hour drive) as well as Laax, Davos and Lenzerheide, which are only 2 hours drive away. Andermatt, Switzerland’s biggest ski resort development, currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2013/14, is only one hour away. The plan is for the two current resorts Andermatt and nearby Sedrun to be combined to one large resort with more than 130 kilometers of ski slopes plus a PGA standard golf course. Andermatt is known for being a powder free ride paradise with more than 300 kilometers off piste slopes.
“Since last year, luxury property prices in Ticino have been stable and are trending slightly upwards, partly due to the fact that new people are moving to Switzerland pushing up demand for properties. Luxury real estate prices are between CHF 10,000 and 20,000 per square meter. Still many of our clients are Swiss with many more foreign nationalities from more than 70 nations—mostly from Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Benelux countries. Russians’ and Arabs’ interest has increased too,” says Peter Rabitz from Wetag.
A beautiful, traditional town, Verbier has a variety of terrain and great off-piste opportunities. With four valleys to choose from and a nightlife almost as famous as its powder, it’s not surprising this is one of Switzerland’s most popular resorts. Prince Harry and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie holiday here, as do members of the Danish and Swedish royal families.
Further east in Austria prices for luxury properties near popular ski resort areas such as Kitzbuehel, Zell am See, Bad Gastein, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, and Alpine Lake District have been stable too. “Average prices for luxury-end apartments trend between €5-10 million per square meter while for chalets €1-15 million, depending on size. We notice an increase in demand just before Christmas and until Easter with buyers mainly from Germany, Netherlands, Italy, UK and other eastern European countries,” says Stiller & Hohla.
This alpine resort, nicknamed the St Tropez of winter sports, has four levels – Courchevel 1350, 1550, 1650, and 1850 – all sensibly named after their altitudes. The most exclusive is the highest, recently named the sixth most expensive place in the world to buy real estate. Huge efforts are made to cater for everyone, with areas for kids, a snow park, and testing black runs that are said to be the most challenging in the world.
If Val d’Isère had a town motto it would be: “ski hard, play hard.” Not, perhaps, the best location for those looking for peaceful communion with nature, Val d’Isère is tremendously good fun and puts as much emphasis on après-ski as the sport itself. Locals like to point out that the area has more skiable terrain than almost anywhere else in Europe, but most people are there to relax after a day on the slopes with a drink or two at Dick’s Tea Bar before retiring to their pretty, traditional chalets to recuperate.
With a ski season that runs from June until October, Argentina and New Zealand are certainly ideal for out-of-season skiers, making ski home ownership a wildcard option. Las Leñas, known as the Chamonix of the Southern Hemisphere, is memorable for its friendly Latin American culture, and near-perfect powder conditions. And Queenstown in New Zealand provides easy access to four ski resorts and myriad adventure sports.
