French Alps property 'a target for Swiss buyers'

Investors from Switzerland are becoming increasingly interested in purchasing real estate in the French Alps, one estate agency in the region has noted.

According to Alpine-Property, the relative strength of the Swiss franc against the euro makes buying a property in France an attractive option for those living over the border in Switzerland.

"The buyers we speak to tell us that they can now get a lot more for their money by turning to resorts like Chamonix or Morzine rather than their Swiss equivalents," Gareth Jeffries, a representative from the firm, explained.

Due to this surge in interest, the agency revealed that property prices in many of these locations are now higher than they were when the market reached a peak four years ago.

Last month, the Knight Frank Ski Index showed that many of the French resorts have seen real estate values rise over the year to June 2011.

Among the best-performing French ski destinations in terms of sales activity are Megeve, Courcheval and Val d'Isere, the organisation stated.