Will a US-style upgrade draw homebuyers to Crans-Montana?

In the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana winter came early with a fortnight of cloudless cobalt skies above a fresh dump of snow — the best kind of “bluebird” days on the slopes, in US ski parlance. 

It’s been a propitious start to the season in the mountain town, whose tourist office has also been taking calls from Americans keen to book holidays since the news broke in late November that Vail Resorts has acquired a majority stake in it. The US corporation — owner of 41 other ski resorts — is acquiring 84 per cent of the lift and mountain operations, and 11 restaurants.

Many homeowners are welcoming an upgrade to the Valais town’s ageing infrastructure. “A lot of old-style chairlifts need replacing,” says Australian David Milne, who, with his Ukrainian wife Viktoria, is retiring from corporate life in Lausanne to have a chalet built in Lens, below the town. “We hope that property prices will go up but assume that the cost of everything else will do too.”

Vail Resorts’ planned SFr30mn (€31.9mn) investment over five years will need to be recouped and, while the company says that ski lift prices will not alter this winter, there’s less certainty about whether the move will revive the sluggish property market. Rumours of the takeover have been attracting interest, though. “After having no US buyers last year, we now have five possibles,” says Alex Koch de Gooreynd of Knight Frank’s Swiss desk says “One is there now paying cash for an old chalet for SFr3mn.”

Crans-Montana’s property market has lower prices than other prime Swiss resorts, according to estate agents Knight Frank. At about €15,000 per sq m, it is half of the price of St Moritz and Verbier. Growth is also slower: the price of a four-bedroom chalet in a prime location was up by 2.5 per cent over the year to Q2 2023, less than the 4.4 per cent average of properties in the resorts surveyed for Knight Frank’s Ski Report. 

There are a lot of properties for sale, from second-hand chalets to new-build apartments with second-home status (in Valais ski resorts there are strict limits on the number of second homes), says Cassandra Levene of agent Alpine Homes.

“Some of the charm of [Crans-Montana] has been killed in recent years,” says Levene, referring to changes made in the resort. But that hasn’t put off wealthy retirees relocating for fiscal reasons, from mainly Geneva, France or the Benelux countries. Attracted by Valais canton’s lump-sum taxation, they’ll spend SFr3mn-SFr8mn on a chalet. Fixed-rate mortgages, at around 2 per cent, are still relatively low, though it’s hard for Americans to get loans.

David Bhagat of buying agent Property Vision International says that Le Régent School is the biggest catalyst for buyers relocating to Crans, followed by lump-sum taxation — especially of the Lens commune, one of the Crans-Montana area’s 11 communes, where the international school is based. “For our buyers it’s rarely just about the skiing — and second-home owners will usually look at other resorts.”

The resort’s south-facing slopes are the main reason it’s not more popular with serious skiers, which also affects property prices. Vail Resorts can’t move mountains but it plans to counter this with improved snow-making, non-skier activities and ensuring other (less slushy) slopes are accessible via its multi-resort Epic Pass, which will include Crans-Montana next winter.

The Milnes chose Crans-Montana over other Swiss resorts such as Verbier, Villars and Nendaz because they say it’s a better year-round town, with golf and high-end shopping. Rebecca Travis is of the same view. The voiceover artist and mother of three plans to relocate there when she’s sold her home near Cirencester in the Cotswolds, after previously living in Nyon, canton Vaud, for many years. “Some areas need a facelift but every time I am there I love it more, especially the dinky little cinema [Cinécran], restaurants and coffee shops,” she says. “It’s much less flash than Verbier but I’m hoping the new investment will lift it up.”

Her three-bedroom apartment is in Montana, the less smart and more affordable half of town — more snowboard shops than jewellers. While the prime area for chalets in Crans are Plans-Mayens, Les Briesses and around the golf course, there’s more space to build in Montana — home to a big development of apartments, Résidence Le Guépard, and Les Barzettes, the finish area for the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 2027.

Some areas need a facelift but every time I am there I love it more, especially the dinky little cinema [Cinécran], restaurants and coffee shops

Crans-Montana has put aside SFr30mn for the redesign of the finish area, new connecting paths and snow-making, says Bruno Huggler, head of its tourism office: “Vail Resorts’ experience of hosting this event [elsewhere] will be a great benefit to the town; we also expect more American visitors.” The town already hosts the Omega European Masters golf tournament every year.

In Andermatt-Sedrun, another Swiss ski and golf resort in which a majority stake was bought by Vail Resorts a year ago, the number of overnight stays by North Americans quadrupled last winter. “Vail Resorts have done good things quickly,” says Russell Collins, Andermatt’s head of sales, including chairlift upgrades, improved snow-making and expanding the Epic Pass ski area to the village of Disentis. “Americans have bought 12 properties — mostly two-bedroom apartments. Vail Resorts has been a catalyst.”

Meanwhile, Andermatt-based property developer Agostino Franzosi is betting on prices rising in Crans-Montana “since the rumours”. He’s bought three chalets in six months to refurbish — including one to live in. “Prices are crazy in Andermatt now, but Crans-Montana has room to grow,” he says.

Local environmental science teacher Ben Wood can’t wait for the pistes to be “managed more efficiently”. “Everyone here is pretty optimistic about the news,” says the keen skier, who has been renting a one-bedroom apartment for four years in Les Barzettes. “The après-ski is very limited, yet there’s so much potential.”

On the market

Chalet, SFr2.75mn 

A four-bedroom, four-bathroom chalet with 226 sq m of living space and a private garden in the sought-after area of Bluche in Crans. For sale with Knight Frank.

Chalet, SFr8.5mn 

A seven-bedroom traditional ski chalet with nearly 400 sq m of living space, five minutes from the slopes in Crans-Montana. The property includes a second independent two-storey chalet and a wooded garden. On the market with Alpine Homes.

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