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Are people still looking to buy?
For the first few weeks of the COVID crisis, demand for property in the Alps really did stop dead. One month into the confinement, and that is not the case now. Enquiries are down, but only by about 30%; activity on our website did drop by 40% for a couple of weeks, but now it is up on the same period as last year.
Do we expect a drop in prices?
We went through something similar in 2008, similar but smaller. Many people will wait to see if prices drop. If you are looking for a bargain then you need to act now. During the hiatus. And people are doing just that – we have agreed 4 sales over the last week. And two of them were at the full asking price. We can feel there is plenty of demand. If you wait until everything is stable again then you might have to wait for a while.
Do we expect a rise in prices?
It is possible (but arguable) that prices will rise in the medium to long term. The various governments may print money to try to deal with COVID and the recession that follows. In the past, this has led to inflation and property prices go up when this happens. If there is an imbalance between how countries react then you will see changes in the exchange rate. If the UK prints more money than the EU then the value of sterling could fall. All this also has to be weighed against the performance of the economy.
What is Alpine-Property doing during the Pandemic?
Up until 11th May, we are in “confinement”. This means that we are all encouraged to work from home, save for essential activities that cannot be done remotely. So, for Alpine-Property, there is no change. We don’t have bricks and mortar branches. All our agents are available as usual and working from their homes. We are on hand to answer your questions and discuss your plans.
How can you view a property?
On the whole, we can’t meet anyone in person at a property. And, even if we could, it is very unlikely that anyone could travel into the area legally for this purpose. However, we do have virtual tours for the majority of our properties. And assuming a property is empty we can make a virtual tour if one is missing. Obviously you can view these tours on our website in your own time. However, we encourage appointments with our agents so that they can accompany you on a virtual walkthrough, explaining about the property as they go. Our agents are doing this every day. You can see the properties we have for sale here.
Can you start the buying process?
You can, and some people have. Most of our customers are using this time to do their research, find out what is available. Decide which ski village suits their requirements. If you would like to borrow against this purchase, speak to the mortgage companies and find out what they can offer. Discuss the areas with our agents. We have 16 agents spread across the Haute Savoie. Each one would love to talk you through why their area is the best!
Will COVID prevent a current sale from completing?
Unlikely. Though it might delay it. During the first few weeks, we had to deal with various jams at the notaires’, the banks, and with more mundane issues like arranging energy reports! All these jams are beginning to become free now. All deadlines have been extended too. Contracts aren’t going to immediately fall apart because a deadline has been breached. So this means that a sale is more likely to be delayed than stopped.
