Some might think that wealthy individuals would think twice before buying a second home in the current climate, but the number of property viewings in January was twice as high as at the same time last year, the real estate firm said.

Alpine Homes thinks that sterling’s 7 per cent appreciation against the euro in the past six months has encouraged buyers in Austria and France.

The firm says that interest has been high in upmarket Swiss chalets in Verbier and Zermatt, where prices range from SFr15 million ($16.3 million) to SFr38 million.

“Whether it is popular with voters and taxpayers or not, with the banks paying out bonuses again and with a small improvement in sterling exchange rates, buyers do appear to be more in evidence than 12 months ago,” said Jeremy Rollason, managing director of Alpine Homes.

Switzerland has the highest property prices among the Alpine states, with homes in Geneva going for SFr2.3 million and homes in Zurich going for SFr1.8 million on average.