Austria

[Jonathanw]

Does anyone here work from or with Austria?
I have already purchased 1 appartment and I am thinking about another this summer as a buy to let.
Has anyone on here any experience in Austria or knowledge I would find useful.
Seems like an ever improving country both fiscally and through its own nature, but as i stated before prices are quite high for the rents you receive.

Anyone...?

[Jonr]

I too purchased in Austria - a chalet in the ski resort of Saalbach-Hinterglemm and am getting a decent return of about 8% gross. Austria is a really beautiful country.

I don't know much about the market in Austrian cities but I have quite a bit of knowledge of the ski property market in the Salzburg region (includes resorts such as Zell am See, Saalbach and Bad Gastein), after researching the area for my own purchase.

There are not too many Brits in this market but a lot of Dutch and increasingly Eastern Europeans. All the chalets around us have been bought by Dutch families and Kitzbuhel down the road is attracting Russians.

Prices are still quite modest here, certainly compared to France, but they are starting to creep up now. The Austrian market has been very flat for years, just like the German market, so it never experienced the bubble seen elsewhere in Europe.

If anyone wants any advice or help with buying ski property in Austria, particularly in the Salzburg region, I'd be glad to pass on my experience.


Jon

[Jonathanw]

Good to hear from you Jonr, I bought a place in Zillertal near Mayrhofen, good to know I'm not the only one seeing the potential here. Fairly expensive in the resorts which are doing Summer activities too but yes I bought in a new building of 10 appartments and half are owned by Germans from Munich, so the demand is definitely there.

I was thinking about a buy to let in Innsbruck as there are students and lots of people wanting to be based there, but rents are fairly low for house prices (i think although i am new to this :-) )

but great to hear from you I will be in touch again,
I am currently looking for a small hotel, guesthouse or "wohnhaus" in Zillertal so if you have any contacts who may have some ideas let me know....

Thanks Jon

[Jonr]

The demand is certainly there, and what now works in its favour is that the market is not driven by debt-ridden Brits!

Zillertal is a fantastic ski area too, and one of the few areas in Tirol where you can easily buy holiday property. I don't claim to have much knowledge of the area, but from what I could tell the prices are roughly similar to top Salzburg resorts such as Zell am See and Saalbach-Hinterglemm. Sorry I have no contacts that can help you in Zillertal, all contacts I have are in the Salzburgerland.

You could try the larger agents such as sreal.at but probably for something like a guesthouse you really need good local contacts - as you know in the Austrian villages they all talk to eachother. Our cleaning lady always lets me know if places are for sale before the agents know about them!

Good luck in your search.


Jon

[neustria]

French prices should be pulling back now with the downturn.

What sort of cost per m2 are you looking at in the Salzburg area?

[Jonr]

You would be looking at anywhere between 3,000 to 4,000 Euros per sqm for a good new build in a well known resort such as Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Zell am See/Kaprun etc.

If however you go to a less international resort such as Maria Alm then you would be looking at 1500 to 2000 Euros per sqm or less for an apartment in a 70s development. There are some new developments in other smaller resorts such as Rauris at about 2500 per sqm.

How much are you looking at now for decent French resorts? I looked into it a couple of years ago and it seemed to me that 3000 per sqm was the cheaper end of the market, going up to 10,000 plus in the mega resorts.

Jon

[neustria]

How much are you looking at now for decent French resorts? I looked into it a couple of years ago and it seemed to me that 3000 per sqm was the cheaper end of the market, going up to 10,000 plus in the mega resorts.
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I am very out of touch with the situation now, but I would expect that the prices in the French resorts would be higher than those you quote above for Austria.
The Savoie region, I know, had a terrific run up in the last real estate bull market, and would probably have been (also just a supposition on my part here) badly hit in the recent downturn.
Maybe this will bring to the forefront someone who has some up-to-date information on the subject.