Are holiday home prices falling? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that! Even if cheap offers can be found in some regions: Especially in prime locations, the market is unlikely to relax for a long time. Consumers should act.
Some people may be surprised when looking at the real estate portals about the prices for holiday homes and apartments and in holiday regions. An apartment in Niendorf on the Baltic Sea costs around 500,000 euros, a chalet in the Alps even a mere 2.2 million. That’s not really surprising – especially if the object is close to the beach or the piste.
At the same time, there are more and more headlines at the moment that prices for holiday homes are falling in many places. For buyers looking to put their money into vacation property, does that mean now is the right time to make the move? As always: it depends!
With supposedly cheap and falling prices, caution is even required! Because a closer look at these offers often shows that the locations are unattractive and the infrastructure leaves a lot to be desired. In addition, the building fabric is often showing its age. Renovation work – and with it additional costs – will not be long in coming.
But the contrary price development in top locations should make potential buyers prick up their ears. Several factors are keeping the prices there stable or even allowing them to continue to rise: On the one hand, in these locations – e.g. directly on the water or elsewhere on the ski slopes – the supply is already too low to cover the constantly growing demand. At the same time, there is hardly any space on which new construction could be built and use as a holiday property is permitted. And the high construction costs and increased interest rates also make new construction unattractive. The supply will therefore only grow slowly.
At the same time, the excess demand could increase in the next two to three years. Because despite high prices and inflation, people want and will go on vacation. The situation on the stock market doesn’t make it any better: those who can invest their money in tangible assets and convert expensive consumer spending into investments. This also applies to holiday expenses. In addition, remote work and digital work have been the norm since the pandemic and will remain so for the “Remote Generation”. Many want to work where others vacation.
In short: the situation on the market for holiday properties remains tense. There can be no question of a fall in prices for top real estate. Probably the opposite. So if you can, you should strike now. Because the market is very likely better now than it will be in a few years. And even if the price structure should change at short notice, the market has always recovered quickly in those locations where an investment is really worthwhile. A generally positive development will not be long in coming.
Against the background of all these developments, the holiday property business will increasingly develop into an exclusive business to which fewer and fewer people will have access. This in turn promotes a completely different trend: co-ownership for holiday properties. This means: You share the use of a property with several parties and thus only bear the pro rata costs. In this way you can already invest with smaller amounts. This opens up the market and makes it more attractive to many who otherwise would not have access. Sound like timeshare? Not at all. Because in contrast to traditional timeshare, with co-ownership you participate directly in the value development of the property.
What remains with all this is the realization that it is worth looking around right now. And it doesn’t have to be just a question of money. The emotional return on a holiday home is also high. Such an object can be a good place to rest if you lead an otherwise stressful life. A look at the market can therefore be a valuable one these days.
Apartments, houses and commercial properties
