Les Portes du Soleil

Abondance, Avoriaz, Châtel, La Chapelle d’Abondance, Les Gets, Montriond, Morzine, Saint-Jean d’Aulps, Champéry, Morgins, Torgon and Val-d’Illiez Les Crosets Champoussin... These 12 resorts, eight French and four Swiss, comprise a skiing domain of 650 km2 with 283 ski-runs, 10 snowparks and 90 high-altitude restaurants. We focus on just three of them...

One hour from Geneva, between Mont-Blanc and Lake Geneva, Les Portes du Soleil promise a combined annual depth of snow of almost eight metres. The Alpine decor does not suffer from the installation of ski-lifts. Les Gets, Morzine and Avoriaz fly the colours of this cross-border domain on the international scene. On November 2nd, in London, Avoriaz was voted the Best Family Resort 2012. Les Gets goes for Savoyard authenticity and justifies its logo, “Family Plus Mountains”. Morzine gives priority to wood and slate at the heart of a fir-tree forest. It combines its success among tourists with coherent and well controlled urban planning. With Alpine peaks on one side, the lake on the other, Saint-Jean d’Aulps at the foot of Le Roc d’Enfer offers a wide range of skiing possibilities from the beginners’ area to more technical slopes, ie. 50 km in the forest, much-appreciated by their fans.

“From Geneva, it takes 60 minutes to reach Les Gets, a resort which is constantly rising in terms of prestige,” says Angèle Pernollet of L’Agence Immo’Sélect. “It is, in fact, at the entrance to the Portes du Soleil, on a mountain pass, a geographic location guaranteeing lots of sunshine. Another advantage, and not the least : the ski-runs run right down into the village.” A system of free shuttles and small trains reduce the need for personal cars and thus overall traffic in this charming village. 90 % of acquisitions concern holiday homes. During vacations, all generations meet up as a family. Lots of activities are organized for children and teenagers. Angèle Pernollet says that the main part of her turnover derives from the 200,000-450,000 € bracket, the budget required for the much sought-after 1- and 2-bedroom cabin apartments, near the ski-runs and centre. She then mentions the potential shown by the bracket from 700,000 € - bringing a 1980’s chalet with 3 or 4 bedrooms - to over 1 million euros - the sum required for a recent property boasting five suites in a particularly good location. Old apartments can be found from 5,000 to 5,500 € per sq. metre ; new ones start from 7,000 €. Whether French, Swiss or English, buyers already know the site well, and tend to target developments freshly risen from the ground or undergoing completion. Our estate-agent’s current contacts look promising, as long as their demands can be met.

“Morzine is the epi-centre of the domain, the departure-point for many ski-lifts and thus offering a wide array of skiing possibilities,” points out Ingrid Maes of Majestic Morzine. “With close on 3,000 people living here year-round, it proposes a social and cultural life allowing its property market to benefit from a constantly improved image.” The scarcity of building land has led to renovation of older accommodation, which seems to be keeping pace with development of its infrastructures. Such as a plan to introduce a high-capacity cable-car linking the resort to the peaks of Avoriaz. A departure in the shopping street, a strong sign of urban orientation, together with the prospect of up-coming restructuring of the banks of the Dranse. Nine free shuttles go back and forth constantly through the resort. Prices in Morzine bear comparison with those in Les Gets. New apartments within a radius of 1.5 km from the centre are pegged at 7,500 € per sq. metre, while recent ones of sound construction cost around 6,000 €, and old ones in need of modernization range from 4,000 to 4,500 € per sq. metre. The most sought-after items in the apartment sector are studios at 110,000 € and 2-bedroom apartments from 300,000 to 500,000 €. Beyond the most favoured perimeter, prices drop by 10 %. The chalet is certainly the resort’s flagship property, in two price-brackets : 700,000-900,000 € and 1-1.8 million euros, the latter bringing a prestigious property with five suites and a very desirable address. The British clientele has maintained its share of the market, while that of clients from Geneva is on the rise. This is closely linked to the relative healthiness of the international financial scene. Interest is clearly visible, buyers make lots of visits, but bargaining is almost a matter of course. On the other hand, the buoyant rental market acts like a magnet on investors.

“Saint-Jean d’Aulps is a family resort connected by shuttle to Les Portes du Soleil and opening out to the Bellevaux skiing domain,” explains Stéphanie Delerce of Alpesvente.com. “Long ski-runs, sometimes calling on snow canons, wind their way through the Alpine forest beneath Le Roc d’Enfer. The topography provides wild but magnificent picture-postcard scenery. Three new slopes should be opened this year and new ski-lifts should welcome their first skiers in 2014.” This address proposes good value for money and a wide choice of accommodation. A development consisting of nine chalets built of stone and burnt and brushed timber, with four or five bedrooms at the edge of the slopes currently posts prices from 500,000 to 600,000 €, ie. about 4,300 € per sq. metre. Construction is forging ahead. The operation is, in fact, part of a phase of dynamism well into its stride. Benefitting from much the same situation, farmhouses to renovate sell from 1,200 € per sq. metre, while old apartments range from 3,000 to 3,500 €. Here, 40 % of acquisitions are for year-round living. Understandable, given the number of shops, amenities and schools, including a “collège”, on site. Buyers pay from 150,000 to 250,000 € for their homes and prefer the village or nearby hamlets, more practical for everyday living than the resort 2 km away. Holiday residents opt for 2- or 3-bedroom apartments at the heart of Saint-Jean, priced from 180,000 to 225,000 €. Despite today’s overall context, Saint-Jean d’Aulps, just like Les Gets and Morzine, is chalking up a good performance.