“Prices increased 15 to 20 % per year over the past seven or eight years, up until September. Today, with an increasingly well-informed clientele – I would even say “professional” – there is no longer any question of trying to sell properties that are even slightly above market prices. The clientele is there and the demand is there, but the clients are becoming increasingly demanding. They make a careful selection of properties up for sale”.

“They have very precise criteria which are not the slightest bit negotiable! Our profession is already very technical and now, with the highly sophisticated assessments required by the new thermal regulations, we have to produce more and more documents. The idea behind the new regulations is that purchasers should know what they are buying. There can be defects in a chalet or an apartment, but the buyer has to know about them”.

“That, of course, is the difference between a new property and an old property. At least when I sell a chalet that’s been divided into four apartments, I know what I’ve done so I know what I’m selling. I have all the documents and when the property comes up for sale, there’ll be no surprises for anyone. We live in the mountains and the quality of a construction determines how long it will last”.