system. Lifted by one of the world’s richest
sovereign wealth funds, Norway ranks at the
top of the Material Wellbeing sub-index. The
country has further strengthened its fiscal
position by reducing its public debt, reduced
unemployment and better income equality.
Australia ranks No. 3, up two spots from
2014, while Iceland and Netherlands finish 4th
and 5th.
New Zealand and Australia are the two
non-European countries to reach the Top
10 due in large part to their mandatory
retirement savings programmes. Australia’s
Superannuation Guarantee system and New
Zealand’s voluntary KiwiSaver demonstrate
that security for retirees begins well before the
date an individual actually retires.
All nations that finished in the Top 10 enjoyed
a well developed and growing industrialised
economy with strong financial system
and regulations, excellent public access to
good health care and social services, and
substantial public investment in infrastructure
and technology.
Prime ski properties showing surge
in value in top resorts
Luxury ski homes rose in price by 5.9% across
a list of 20 top resorts in the year ending
June 2014, up from 4.6% the previous year.
Queenstown in New Zealand, and Aspen,
Colorado, showed the largest increase in
values, up by 24.8% and 20.7% respectively.
Knight Frank’s prime ski property index report
says New Zealand is experiencing an economic
upturn, foreign investment and low interest
rates which are contributing to the jump in
prices there. In Aspen despite annual price
growth of over 20% luxury prices are still 18%
below their pre-crisis peak.
North American resorts generally outperformed
Europe, recording average price growth of
13.3% compared to 1% in Europe. However,
North American prices remained 9.9% below
their peaks of 2008, whilst in Europe, prices
were nearly 9% higher than 2008.
Morzine, in the French Alps, saw luxury
property prices rise by 6.7% in the year to
June 2014.
Val d'Isère, which has seen sales strengthen
in 2014, particularly in the €1 million to €2
million price bracket, saw prices rise by 3.2%
after two years of flat prices. Zermatt in
Switzerland experienced annual price growth
of 5.5%. The report points out that uncertainty
in the Swiss market surrounding Lex Weber,
the introduction of a 20% cap on second
homes per commune, has delayed some
purchase decisions.
Cortina, the most upmarket resort in the Italian
Dolomites, experienced a price drop of 11%.
Meanwhile, lack of supply at upmarket resorts
such as Courchevel and Val d'Isère kept
prices up.
The report states: “Certainly, the world’s top
resorts have a lot currently riding in their
favour: limited supply, rising global wealth,
large-scale investment in infrastructure, easier
access via new flight routes and an increasing
focus on delivering a year-round holiday
destination. And this is against a backdrop of a
global economic recovery.”
Ultra-high net worth individuals are expected
to increase in numbers by 28% over the next
decade, meaning demand for ski property lifestyle investments seems strong, it says. China,
India and Indonesia are expected to produce
many of those individuals.
Many Asian ski resorts are in their infancy,
with limited luxury accommodation available.
But with the Chinese registering 7 million ski
visits a year, expectations are that the property numbers will rise dramatically, while the
spillover to more developed resorts in other
parts of the world is a forgone conclusion.
‘If we set this expanding demand against
the limits on supply,