Andermatt is the new Eldorado of the Americans

Since the arrival of Americans, aging facilities have been modernized.Image: watson / dr

For decades, Andermatt, a quiet town of the canton of Uri, lived in the shade of his military barracks and the convoys of Swiss skiers. Today, this postcard village seems to have woken up in another sun: the much more flashy one of the American dream.

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Since the beginning of 2025, Andermatt has been the subject of an unprecedented and growing appetite from American buyers. More than 14 million Swiss francs have been invested by the latter in the purchase or reservation of new apartments, relates the American title Financial Times.

It is almost double of all the transactions recorded the previous year, and a figure all the more striking since 2023 had seen … no American investor pointing the tip of his nose. The SRF speaks of “more than 1,200 requests for American investors concerning real estate in Andermatt”.

An explosion that Russell Collins, commercial director of Andermatt Swiss Alps, describes as a “hockey butt curve”. Understand: a progression as brutal as it is unexpected.

But what do these American expatriates and investors come from in this Uri valley? Snow, of course. But above all stability.

A escape to “Trumpland”?

Donald Trump’s re-election at the head of the United States, a little over 100 days has caused a shock wave, especially in many Americans from the East Coast, sensitive to political and fiscal upheavals.

Several luxury real estate agencies confirm this, as the American media tells: economic and social uncertainty is growing more and more wealthy citizens to build B plans abroad. And in this context, few countries reassure as much as Switzerland.

Andermatt, the new Eldorado of the Americans.Keystone

The Swiss franc, a historic refuge value, has strengthened by 11% against the dollar since January. Swiss political stability, quality of life, easy access to Alps and transport infrastructure reinforce this reassuring cocoon image, even an anti-apocalypse shelter. And in Andermatt, the shelter is even more attractive thanks to a legal flaw, as the Financial Times: The exception to the “Lex Koller”.

This “good from home” legislation usually limits real estate acquisitions by foreigners. But in Andermatt, the State has agreed to an exemption … until 2040. Clearly: non-residents can buy and resell goods without prior authorization. A rare Eldorado in Switzerland.

The icing on the chalet: the law that restricts second homes to 20% of the real estate stock (the aptly named Lex Weber) will not apply either by then. The equation is simple: fiscally reassuring, legally flexible, climately chic. No wonder American buyers are jostling in Andermatt.

Vail Resorts arrives with its millions

If the Trump effect plays a cyclical role, the transformation of the small village of Uri by loving to Dollars does not date from yesterday. It is actually the fruit of a long process of investment and rebranding, of which a key player is … also American.

In 2022, the giant Vail Resorts, which had more than 40 ski resorts in the United States and Canada, took a majority stake in Andermatt-Sedrun Sport AG. 55% of the capital to be precise, with an investment of 149 million Swiss francs. The objective? Make Andermatt the first European basis of the group, with infrastructure at the American standard.

Since then, aging chairlifts have been modernized, boosted artificial snow cannons, and altitude restaurants revamped. The tracks are now included in the Epic Pass, the Multi-Stations of Vail package, which mechanically attracted a flood of North American tourists accustomed to skiing in Colorado, Whistler or Park City. On social networks, some American influencers do not hesitate to claim that skiing in Switzerland is even cheaper than in Colorado, like Camille Larmoyeux, an influencer New York travel:

American tourists are now coming to take advantage of it in Andermatt, or Crans Montana, as pointed out L’AGEFI last fall. A clear positioning that begins to pay, but not without causing some tensions.

The ransom of the hype

With its designer hotels, its glass lofts on the summits, its 18-hole golf course and its contemporary art galleries, Andermatt has little more from the mountain village of yesteryear. For some residents, the shock is tough. At the end of 2023 already, some traders were enthusiastic, but also a little concerned about the arrival of the Americans, who land with their suitcases, but also their own sports stores, for example, as RTS noted in one of its reports.

The fear is not new, but it accelerates. In addition, environmental NGOs, they alert on the growing pressure exerted on local resources, in particular water and soils, with the expansion of artificial snow and tourist infrastructure. The equation between economic attractiveness and sustainability remains complete.

Recently, it was a downright hip-hop festival that has taken up residence in the village. With beautiful American headliners from the 2000s: Busta Rhymes, Eve, Timbaland or Xzibit.

Fans expected in mid-April from Switzerland, but not only, as our colleagues in 20 minutes Who questioned Thomas Preissler, one of the co -organizers of the High Peak Festival.

So, as historical chalets give way to luxury residences, the question of the identity of the place arises with more and more insistence: can we remain a Swiss station while becoming a showcase for millionaire tourists?

Alpine mirage

In many ways, the former small town of Andermatt is today in full transition. A place at the crossroads of fears, whether climatic, political or identity, but also foreign fantasies, that we speak of refuge, nature or purity of Swiss postcard.

In an increasingly faster world, the very idea of ​​a Swiss village, calm, clean and safe, acts as a magnet for the wealthy, which has the consequence, paradoxically … to distort this Swiss made May these great American fortunes are looking for.

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