The Super Prime reveals the top luxury global ski resorts that are diversifying beyond the winter ski season and are seeing healthy price growth, snowsure conditions and plenty of high-end trimmings attracting the global elite.
At a glance
- No longer catering solely to the fly-in, fly-out international crowd, upscale resorts are rebranding as year-round destinations catering to a post-pandemic surge in demand
- Forward-thinking winter playgrounds – from the Alps to the US – that are heavily investing in year-round infrastructure, services and amenities, coupled with top-tier names are emerging as kings of the mountain
- High-end property agent Knight Frank’s annual Alpine Property Report supports sentiments that alpine homes are no longer viewed as seasonal luxuries – they are resilient, year-round retreats blending top-end lifestyles, stability and strong investment performance.
- Savills’s latest ski data shows a 3% increase in prime and super prime mountain home prices across global resorts, crowned by Aspen, Colorado
- Knight Frank’s data reveals that top-tier Alpine property prices have risen 23% over the past five years
- Remote working, growing interest in permanent mountain living, and a renewed focus on wellness and nature are key drivers of sustained demand for ski property, which has surged by 150% over 20 years, says Savills
- Climate change is an increasingly important factor influencing investment values. High-altitude resorts and those investing in extending snow conditions are in peak position
Today’s ski home investors are not just after a good day’s skiing, for this monied, cosmopolitan subset, 365 days on the mountain need to be good days with excellent conditions extending beyond the winter season.
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Blending investment value with emotional attachment and exceptional lifestyles, owning ski real estate in the world’s most expensive ski resorts sits high on the must-have list of wealthy global investors.
The ultimate luxury asset, interest in year-round alpine living has been steadily growing among high-net-worth individuals, as these mountain sanctuaries mature and evolve into four-season destinations in response to shifting buyer priorities.
According to luxury property agent Knight Frank’s Alpine Property Report 2026, as many markets have cooled in recent years, Alpine ski homes have surged 23% on average in the past five years, making a compelling case for global asset diversification.
What's behind the skyrocketing demand for ski homes in recent years?
Once accessed solely in the winter season, rarefied resorts are rebranding as year-round destinations with climate change, growth in summer tourism and post-pandemic buyer sentiments key catalysts behind their ‘glow-up’.
New regulations shaping supply and demand are also behind price surges and investor demand as prime Alpine locations loosen prohibitive foreign investment laws, balancing protection of domestic real estate markets and affordability for nationals with the lining of state coffers.
Despite the prohibitive regulations surrounding foreign ownership of Swiss real estate, non-Swiss buyers are now able to purchase a holiday home in a handful of Alpine locations where developers have negotiated the loosening of restrictions in exchange for job creation, long-term investment and large-scale construction projects.
Post-pandemic buyer priorities - are mountain homes the perfect antidote?
As investors’ increasingly lofty demands include homes that offer health benefits, a salubrious factor underpinning ski home value has emerged post-pandemic.
The COVID-19 outbreak threw the ability for homes to offer sanctuary into sharp relief, with advantageously positioned geographical locations emerging as winners as investors viewed real estate investment under a new lens.
A serrated wall of mountains and less densely populated, high-altitude retreats offer the ultimate in privacy and security.
Throw in wellness, nature and the great outdoors and mountain resorts serve as nature’s buffer against unpredictable world events – and mountain property prices have reaped the rewards in recent years.
Year-round destinations elevating luxury lifestyles
As global appetites for year-round mountain living surge, resorts are maturing beyond the Glühwein and rowdy après-ski to offer a sophisticated palette of private members’ clubs, international schools, five-star hotels and Michelin-starred dining servicing permanently residing global elite with big spends.
Savills’s latest prime ski property price index paints a sun-drenched, snow-capped picture of turbo-charged desirability beyond the winter ski season, with sustained demand for mountain living across global mountain resorts driving the 3% rise in prime and super-prime ski home prices in the last year.
Data shows that prices are 27% above pre-pandemic levels and a staggering 150% since the Savills Ski Report launched two decades ago.
A similar picture emerges across ski homes in top-tier Alpine destinations, which have seen a 23% surge in price growth in the past five years, says high-end property agent Knight Frank, cementing Alpine real estate as one of Europe’s most resilient lifestyle and investment sectors.
As investor priorities shift, particularly in demand are big-hitting mountain resorts that can cater to high-net-worth families making a permanent relocation, with long-term lifestyle appeal sustained by excellent international schools and four-season retail, dining and wellness attractions on an off-piste.
As high-net-worth families put down roots in top-tier mountain resorts, particularly in demand are large family chalets that are treated as long-term family assets to be handed down for generations, blending investment value with intangible emotional attachment.
Private members’ clubs, elite schools and Michelin stars cater to wealthy mountain communities
Big-name brands setting up shops in top Alpine destinations will have a captive audience in the monied crowd that is increasingly calling top-tier ski resorts home.
A staggering 73% of high-net-worth respondents surveyed in Knight Frank’s Alpine Report would consider living full-time in the Alps, driven by flexible work lifestyles and a desire for wellness, nature, and community.
The pandemic-era growth of families relocating to four-season resorts is reshaping the private school sector across Alpine resorts, with big-money education providers swooping in on demand for quality schooling from a rising year-round population.
Verbier, for example, has seen the number of pupils at the US $58,000-a-year Verbier International School swell, fuelling a merger with Copperfield International School Verbier acquired by the elite Dukes education group earlier in 2025.
Down the road, Verbier’s newest private members’ club, ‘The Verbier Club’ – an Alpine branch of storied London member’s club 67 Pall Mall – offers the ‘finest selection of fine and vintage wines’ to a cosmopolitan ski crowd that likes to feel at home.
A slew of five-star, 2026 hotel openings join the heady mix of premier Alpine destinations, including the new Rosewood Le Jardin Alpin in Courchevel and The Park Gstaad, A Four Seasons Hotel – projected to open doors for the 2027 ski season.
Remote working, millennials and digital ‘snowmads’
Millennials are particularly keen on mountain living, with 80% saying they would contemplate full-time Alpine living, according to Knight Frank’s findings.
Younger high-net-worth investors and digital ‘snowmads’ are particularly well adapted to the remote working trend, which comes with added perks if you’re kicking back in one of Europe’s legendary ski resorts.
The freedom and flexibility of mountain living will see early rising remote workers making their way up the mountain with the opening of the first ski lift and carving their way back down powdery slopes in time for a remote board meeting in the afternoon, with plenty of choices for lively après-ski events come nightfall.
Snowsure resorts offer resilience against warmer winters
As a globally mobile buyer base seeks out primary or second mountain homes that double up as places of work and recreation, climate change will increasingly play into long and short-term investment strategies.
High-altitude, snowsure resorts that can buffer against volatile snowfall patterns and resorts investing in on-piste infrastructure to maintain consistent snow coverage will invariably see investor demand pay off in the long term.
Putting the snow reliability of Alpine resorts into focus, Knight Frank’s data reveals that across the French destinations, Val Thorens, Courchevel 1850, and Val d’Isère offer the best conditions in the Alps thanks to their elevated slopes.
In a year defined by climate uncertainty, Zermatt and Verbier offered the best snow reliability in Switzerland, with high altitudes ensuring entire winter season coverage and beyond.
Savills’s data also takes into account the resilience of global ski resorts with Vail, Colorado claiming top spot.
The US resort consistently ranked among the world’s top ski destinations thanks to an average 285 inches of snow, a five-month season, and high elevation.
Zermatt in Switzerland, Val d’Isere in France and Aspen in the US came in second, third and fourth positions respectively thanks to their high elevation and/or on-piste investments ensuring consistent snow retention or extension.
Savills: Top ten most resilient ski resorts globally
| Rank | Resort | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vail | Colorado, USA |
| 2 | Zermatt | Valais, Switzerland |
| 3 | Val d’Isère | Savoie, France |
| 4 | Aspen | Colorado, USA |
| 5 | Breuil-Cervinia | Valle d’Aosta, Italy |
| 6 | Valle Nevado | Región Metropolitana, Chile |
| 7 | Val Thorens | Savoie, France |
| 8 | Saas-Fee | Valais, Switzerland |
| 9 | Tignes | Savoie, France |
| 10 | La Plagne | La Plagne-Tarentaise, France |
Data source: Savills Research
Spotlight on Top Alpine Markets
Prime ski resorts are where powder, Prada and power collide, commanding some of the highest prices for mountain real estate in the world.
Knight Frank’s annual Alpine Property Report assesses prime property prices across legendary ski resorts.
Andermatt in Switzerland tops the index at 14.6% annual growth, with demand attributed to the loosening of foreign property ownership restrictions. The resort has successfully negotiated exemptions in exchange for long-term investment.
Davos, which hums with celebrities and heads of state at the annual World Economic Forum, is the second most expensive Alpine resort recording a 10.5% annual rise in property values in the last year.
Ranking third, the elegant Italian resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo is enjoying a pre-Olympics boost, with prices up 10% year-on-year ahead of the 2026 Winter Games.
The glitzy Swiss resort of St Moritz, home of the world-famous Cresta Run, weighs in at joint fourth place with the top-performing French resort of Méribel, both recording a 7.1% increase in property values.
All-rounder Chamonix, the 13th best-performing Alpine resort has tightened controls on second homes and new build ownership while restricting supply through a new “one out, one in” rule, which is driving a premium.
According to the realtor, those looking for most ‘bang for buck’ should turn to Argentière in the Chamonix Mont Blanc valley.
“At €12,000 per sq m, it is competitively priced and set to benefit from the new Renzo Piano-designed lift at Les Grands Montets, enhancing both accessibility and investment appeal”, notes Roddy Aris in Knight Frank’s International Residential Department.
Knight Frank: Spotlight on top Alpine ski resort markets
Leading luxury ski resorts for 2026
Global property agent Savills’s latest performance data looks at the world’s most expensive winter playgrounds.
Successfully balancing mountain charm with liveability and celebrity pull factors, global big-name resorts are crowned by Aspen, Colorado which continues its top rank for the fifth consecutive year.
Prime prices are justified; the US mountain resort offers the ultimate blend of nature and high-end lifestyles with miles of skiable pistes spanning 500km, supported by some of the best on-mountain infrastructure and facilities in the world.
Add in a lively apres and arts scene with year-round lifestyle offerings and a smattering of celebrity and ultra-high-net-worth property owners – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a home here – and there’s momentum behind the €35,000 per square asking prices.
Strict zoning regulations and limited development capacity have also helped to sustain high price levels in recent years.
Star-studded Aspen knows how to keep the coterie of billionaires that own homes in the resort coming back. You might spot an A-lister, oligarch, or tech billionaire dining at top hangout Batsuhisa, propping up the bar at exclusive J-Bar at Hotel Jerome or rubbing shoulders at Caribou Club, a hushed private members’ club.
Five-star hotel The Little Nell has hosted the likes of Justin Bieber and Beyoncé and draws in an elite, cosmopolitan crowd each season.
Val d’Isère, a perennial, year-round hit among well-heeled snowsports and nature enthusiasts ticks all the boxes with its heady mix of glamorous nightlife, high-altitude skiing and luxury mountain property.
Prime real estate in the French Alpine town comes with an average €32,500 per square metre price tag – the second most expensive prime property market across global ski resorts.
One of the most popular resorts across the Alps, Val d’Isère consistently ranks in the top brackets of the Savills Ski Resilience Index, ranking third in 2025.
Oligarchical Gstaad, which ranked sixth in Knight Frank’s Alpine Property Index for prime property price growth ranks the third most expensive ski resort, according to Savills’s number crunching.
Grandeur, glamour and gold Rolex watches provide the dress code for one of the ritziest and most famous ski towns in the world attracting the titled, beautiful and mega-rich.
The monied grande dame of Swiss mountain resorts commands a €32,500 per square metre price tag with pricing driven upward through tightly controlled development to maintain exclusivity, architectural integrity and support pricing.
St Moritz comes in fourth for the world’s most expensive ski real estate – also ranking fourth in Knight Frank’s Alpine Property Price Index, which notes a 7.1% rise in property prices in the last year.
Savills places price per square metre at €30,300 with elevated price tags driven by its household name on the UHNW circuit, chocolate-box village and array of high-end trimmings.
The billionaire ski resort has its own airfield, with international elite – banking dynasty heirs, European aristocracy, A-listers and oil tycoons – rubbing shoulders in one of the many Michelin-starred restaurants and private members’ clubs that dot the birthplace of winter Alpine tourism.
Cortina d’Ampezzo, co-host of the 2026 Winter Olympics alongside Milan, has seen a notable uplift in its prime residential market, according to Savills. Prices have risen by 7% year-on-year, reaching €15,900 per square metre, which is 3% less than Knight Frank’s forecasted 10% price growth.
Savills predicts that ‘Olympic effect’ will continue to drive interest and price growth in Cortina’s top-end property market and wider region of The Dolomites as on and off-piste infrastructure and investment improve.
According to the property agent, the resort’s comparative value will enhance its appeal to international buyers, further bolstered by Italy’s lucrative flat tax regime, which allows non-domiciled residents to pay a fixed annual tax of €200,000 ($233,000) on income generated abroad, for a period of 15 years.
Top performing ultra-prime Alpine ski resorts - who is the king of the mountain?
The usual crowd pleasers also feature in Savills’s ultra-prime property pricing index, which ranks the top ten of the world’s most expensive ultra-prime property markets.
Largely consistent over the last two years, Aspen continues to lead the league, with average ultra-prime asking prices reaching €68,900 per square metre.
Swiss resorts dominate the top end of the market, accounting for half of the top ten. Gstaad has the most expensive ultra-prime real estate, with average prices at €51,500 per square metre.
The French ski resort’s ultra-prime property market peaks in Val d’Isère, with average values per square metre averaging €52,100.
Spotlight on top global ski markets
