In Lech and Obergurgl, two of Austria's most exclusive Alpine holiday resorts, new-build apartments and chalets are available for rent, a rarity in the Austrian industry. propertyfinder qatar
Many areas of the Alps are controlled by a small group of families who also manage the local council and, in some cases, the ski lifts. They retain the land in their possession, and it is uncommon for property to be sold on the open market.
Furthermore, some Austrian regions have strict zoning and planning regulations that limit the number of holiday homes - those that are not the owner's primary residence - that can be purchased. It is highly unusual for any homes to come on the market in mountain villages such as Kitzbuhel.
Lech, in the Vorarlberg region of western Austria, is a resort where a small community of local families manages the mountains and ski lifts. The first of four luxury new stone and wood chalets on the site of a former family-run hotel will be completed in December this year, with prices starting at €5.8 million.
According to Jessica Delaney of Alpine Marketing, fourteen apartments priced from €600,000 are the first new-build properties to be offered for sale in over a decade in the Tyrolean resort of Obergurgl, one hour from Innsbruck airport.
"Both Lech and Obergurgl are lovely and famous resorts where it was previously nearly impossible to buy land," Delaney says. "These new properties, like most holiday homes in Austria, are required to be rented out when the owners are not using them. This is to prevent the issue of 'cold beds,' which occurs when homeowners lock up and leave their homes, causing resorts to become too quiet."
According to new industry estimates, the Austrian property sector has proven to be the most resilient in Europe over the last five years. Although laws on second home ownership and limits on foreign buyers make property transactions more difficult, Knight Frank Residential Research reports that prices in Austria have risen by 34.7 percent since 2008, beating Norway (34.4 percent), Switzerland (26.5 percent), and Germany (12 per cent).
According to Knight Frank, the property market has outperformed all European nations since the fall of Lehman Brothers.
This success can be attributed to a variety of factors, including a supply shortage combined with high domestic and foreign demand. Strict planning regulations have resulted in a housing shortage, especially in Vienna and popular Alpine resorts. However, demand remains high, especially among Germans, Russians, and Eastern Europeans, who value Austria's financial and political stability, as well as Vienna's appeal as a tourist destination and home to organizations such as OPEC, the United Nations, and General Motors.
The Austrian economy has avoided the boom and bust of the previous decade, with just a brief dip into recession in 2009. Despite slow growth of less than 1% in 2012-13, both the Bank of Austria and the Austrian Institute of Economic Research forecast 1.6 to 1.8 percent growth in 2014.
"Austrian ski resorts have always represented good value in comparison to the French and Swiss Alps, both in terms of property and cost of living," Delaney said. "Prior to 2007, the Austrian Alps did not see the steep price increases that the French and Swiss Alps did."
Most non-Austrian buyers could not buy property less than 20 years ago. EU citizens have been able to purchase and live permanently in any property since 1995, when Austria entered the European Union. Each of the country's nine self-governing federal provinces has its own set of rules for non-EU residents and all holiday home buyers.
Six of the nine provinces allow non-EU residents to buy. If the sale is agreed upon, they must apply to the local authority, the Grundverkehrsbehörde, for a foreigner purchasing permit, which is usually a simple procedure, according to Delaney.