This is the assessment that the FNAIM Savoie Mont Blanc draws up this Monday, May 6.
Despite the lack of snow, the seasonal rental market actually recorded an increase of +7% in Savoie and +4% in Haute-Savoie compared to last year. It is mainly the resorts located above 1500m altitude that are doing the best, such as Avoriaz, Flaine, Méribel, les Arcs and Tignes. The gap has therefore widened for the first time between the large estate resorts and the charming resorts, due to the snow rate.
Details from the FNAIM Savoie Mont Blanc:
The resorts are preparing the future in Savoie Mont Blanc!
In accordance with forecasts, the results of seasonal rentals and real estate activity were satisfactory in Savoie Mont Blanc. If inequalities are growing between large resorts and charming resorts in terms of snowfall, all are mobilizing in the face of global warming.
The winter season was generally good +2% in France for the seasonal rental market (+7% in Savoie, +4% in Haute-Savoie Source from the Domaines Skiables de France union), but it should not hide more marked disparities this year due to the lack of snow, which forced certain resorts in the Vosges or the Massif Central to close in mid-February. Some areas recorded drops of -50% in activity (-7% in the Pyrenees and -56% in the Vosges Source DSF). Conversely, Alpine resorts located above 1,500 meters above sea level recorded a greater increase in attendance in the Savoie region with +8% in Avoriaz, Flaine and the Méribel valley. The very high stations such as Arcs 2000 and Tignes had exceptionally high occupancy, at 100% during the busiest weeks.
Observation: for the first time, the season is marked by a greater gap between the drop in reservations in charming resorts, and the significant increase in resorts in large areas, due to low snowfall. Skiers have postponed their destination this winter to higher peaks to be sure of benefiting from good snow coverage for skiing.
Another observation, the 2023/2024 season was good but shorter despite a more favorable school calendar with vacation areas spread over three weeks. Well started in December, the season ended prematurely at the end of March. Easter Monday marked the end of the festivities, due to the marked appetite of tourists for “seaside sun” destinations; the return of snow at the end of April did not benefit the resorts, most of which were already closed.
The overall economic context marked by the decline in the purchasing power of French households was offset in international resorts by the marked return of European vacationers (Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom in the vast majority, without forgetting epiphenomena emerging with the arrival of Brazilians, Americans and even tourists from the Middle East).
Changes in behavior
The effects of change and global warming are forcing resorts to prepare for their future. The low altitude resorts have been working there for several years, they are diversifying their activities and managing to amortize their investments by attracting a larger clientele in summer, by attracting customers looking for coolness during the summer heatwave which now sets in between July and August. Large resorts have also taken the plunge, they are investing in additional activities to support the change in behavior of their customers. In fact, the winter tourist skis on average three and a half hours a day; he must occupy himself the rest of the time, whether he is at an altitude of 1,500m or 2,000m. Winter and summer alike, the mountains offer an adapted and increasingly diverse range of leisure activities.
On the transaction side, the effects of climate change motivate some owners of properties in low altitudes to sell in order to buy “higher up” and ensure good snow cover. The phenomenon is anecdotal, but it is nevertheless growing.
“ With the beginning of the drop in interest rates, the market is returning to its pre-COVID pace, with longer acquisition times of three to five months, we are witnessing a rebalancing » specifies Thomas Arneodo, mountain market referent at FNAIM. “ Demand remains strong, prices are not falling. On high-end products, transactions take longer because owners are banking on a more marked drop in rates over time, which would allow them to position themselves on properties worth several million euros under better conditions. “.
In Savoie, according to Bérengère Servat, deputy president of FNAIM Savoie Mont Blanc, representative of the mountain market in Savoie: “ transaction volumes at the Tarentaise resorts have increased, particularly at the Arcs or La Plagne resorts, which have prices of around €6,000.00/m². We observe the interest of a wealthy international clientele who buy without a bank loan, looking for an exceptional property to ensure maximum guaranteed snowfall in future years. “.
The mountain market in France displays an average price of €6,000/m² to €7,000/m² in the charming resorts of the Alps (outside the Alps: €4,000 m² to €5,000/m² in less snowy massifs) and conversely close to €10,000/m² in Megève (74), where exceptional properties sell for more than €20,000/m². In Savoie, prices have not fallen compared to last year, despite a certain attractiveness for the Tarentaise resorts whose average prices remain below €7,000.00/m² (Tignes, Les Arcs, La Plagne).
In the resorts of large estates, Avoriaz (74) has an average price of €10,000/m², in Savoie the prestige resorts have an average price of €13,000/m² to €14,000/m² minimum up to budgets above €25,000/m² for exceptional properties (individual chalets) in the resorts of Méribel and Val d’Isère for example.
The 2024 summer season looks good in Savoie Mont Blanc
Even if in May it is too early to say, the summer season looks good. The indicators are good, punctuated by a calendar rich in sporting, festive and taste events in the Ain Savoie Mont Blanc region, from June to September (festivals, mountain bike and road cycling events, numerous trails and hiking trails) which add to the charm and the success of our Alpine region in summer.
