Geneva's luxury left bank sees property explosion By ... - Home Select

Sold for 6.2 million francs this year © Pascal Frautschi
Geneva's luxury left bank sees property explosion
By Marcus Berry
December 13, 2010 | 09:46
While houses and villas throughout the Lake Léman area have
risen by 10 percent over the past year, up-market left bank
properties in Geneva are going through the roof, according to
estate agents. They say the region has become a niche market
for wealthy Europeans aiming to escape taxes back home.
Brits, French, Germans and Scandinavians are leading the way.
For luxury properties in Zurich, the "gold coast" reigns supreme, while
on the other side of the country, "the Beverly Hills of Geneva" is the
location of choice for those where money is no object.
With commanding lake views, cultured lawns and often exclusive
moorings, properties on Geneva’s rive gauche (left bank) have long
been favoured bolt holes for celebrities, diplomats and businessmen.
In 1816, Byron penned some poetry at Villa Deodati at 9 Chemin de
Ruth in Cologny just up the road from Maison Chapuis where author
Mary Shelly came up with the idea for Frankenstein.
Rock star Phil Collins used to own a property in Hermance in the late
nineties. Actress Isabelle Adjani, crooner Charles Aznavour and variety
singer Petula Clark were also local residents at one time or another.
A report in Monday’s Tribune de Genève newspaper said that real
estate prices per square metre are now three times higher in districts
HOME SELECT SA | Agence immobilière | Estate agents | Lausanne - London | www.homeselect.ch
Lausanne Office: World Trade Center Lausanne
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such as Cologny, Anières or Hermance when compared to other
neighbourhoods in the canton.
One small house in Cologny exchanged hands recently for 6.2 million
francs (at nearly 5,200 per square metre), another comparatively
modest property was sold for eight million, the paper said.
And that’s at the lower end of the market. Almost a year ago, Dinara
Kulibayeva, daughter of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbaev,
snapped up a 7,960 square-metre home for nearly 75 million francs.
An average increase of around ten percent across the board throughout
the Lake Léman region over the past year has been dwarfed by what
international real estate consultancy firm, Wüest & Partner, is calling a
property price "explosion" on Geneva’s left bank, though exact figures
for the district are currently unavailable.
The group predicts values to double there over the next decade.
The reason behind the dramatic spike? "Simply the interplay between
supply and demand.” "Geneva is a small town and property owners
have become very rare."
Fearing heavier income tax burdens and potentially rising interest rates
in their own countries, wealthy Europeans from France, Germany,
Scandinavia and the UK are said to make up the majority of new buyers
on the left bank.
Russians have been eager buyers of left-bank properties for years,
while recent reports state that Chinese speculators have also begun to
show an interest in the region over the past year.
Source: Swisster©
HOME SELECT SA | Agence immobilière | Estate agents | Lausanne - London | www.homeselect.ch
Lausanne Office: World Trade Center Lausanne
Avenue Gratta-Paille 2 | P.O Box 476 | 1000 Lausanne 30 | T +41 (0)21 641 5621 | F +41 (0)21 646 84 69