AUSTRIA:All eyes are on Austria for the footie - but canny investors are checking out property there too. It's cheaper than France, and popular summer and winter, wrties Liz Rowlinson.

THIS MONTH the footballing eyes of the world are on Austria, a chocolate-box pretty land of Alpine valleys, lakes and villages characterised by impressively blooming window boxes.

While many of us might be used to seeing the central European country covered in a deep blanket of snow, the co-hosts of Euro 2008 offer a good all-year-round lifestyle - something that's attracting an increasing number of British and Irish second-home owners.

"The British and Irish tend to think of the Austrian Alps as a winter destination but in fact there are more visitors in the summer," says Jessica Delaney of Alpine agency, Investors in Property. "Government figures show there were 16.7 million visitors last summer compared with 14.1 million in the winter."

Well no doubt the figures will go off the scale this summer but if you're after an Alpine bolthole, it's cheaper than France and, with no permit quotas, it's much easier to buy in than Switzerland.

What's more, the locals - who enjoy a great standard of living and healthy organic diet - are renowned for their hospitality from summer beer festivals to a lively aprés-ski that is hard to beat.

So why has Austria been lagging behind when it comes to overseas investment? Despite the fact that EU nationals have been allowed to buy property since 2001 - with a few regional restrictions - the housing market has not been fertile ground for foreign investors.

While the rest of Europe's been booming, Austria's house prices have remained flat with few family homes changing hands every year, and most sales handled by banks rather than estate agents.

This is a nation that works 4.5 days a week and weekends are for family time, not for flogging houses.

"It's not yet a market for pure investors with single-figure capital appreciation, but equally it's been less affected by the credit crunch," says Shaun Ashdown of Aquavista, who adds that Austrian property is undervalued.

The increasing availability of mortgages (Austrians didn't like to use credit) is encouraging foreign buyers - and €500,000 goes a very long way there.

The Salzburgerland region - which boasts the country's largest ski area and is an hour's drive from Salzburg, served by Ryanair and Aer Lingus - is proving most popular, helped by the fact a foreigner can buy more than one property - which you can't in Switzerland.

Investors in Property is selling newbuild apartments in an investment project in the sunny Gastein valley from €260,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. The Alpenparks Apartments in the pretty spa town of Bad Hofgastein come fully furnished and owners may let out their property through a fully managed rental service while keeping 12 weeks' usage.

With some Austrian developments - especially those in tourist areas - you must make your property available for rent by registering it with the local authority who are keen to avoid "cold beds". However, with standalone properties this is not always adhered to, and a small advert in a local shop quoting €5,000 per week should do the trick.

Beware that more vigorous enforcement can be experienced when it comes to upkeep of window boxes - the normally laid-back Austrians can get quite uppity about house appearance. Also, non-residents are not allowed to buy in the Tyrol.

Ashdown has 150 properties on his books including a good investment project of three-bed, two-bath apartments in the traditional farming and ski town of Flachau for €125,000 - you could get €750-€1,380 a week in rentals during the high season.

He's also got a lovely traditional five-bed chalet in the picturesque ski village of Filzmooz for €725,000.

"It's expensive for Austria but such properties rarely come up and we have 80-90 people just waiting for the right home in Filzmooz," he says.

Indeed it was a piece of luck that Michelle and Adrian Barry from Co Kildare found the house of their dreams in the town after looking for a mountain property for some years.

After paying €330,000 for the property, they moved there last year and spent the same again renovating it into two apartments and a hotel which sleeps up to 30 people charging €28-€42 each per night.

"The Austrians like to chat and have made us very welcome," says Adrian, 34, a financial adviser. "But we also love the fact Austria has such defined seasons - the cold winter, the spring thaw when everything comes to life, then hot summers when we organise activity holidays with whitewater rafting, hiking, glacier trekking, mountain biking."

The Austrians are putting a huge effort into its summer tourism, much loved by the German and Dutch, and the southernmost provinces of Carinthia and Styria are popular for boating on crystal-clear lakes in a Mediterranean climate where there are 200 days of sunshine a year.

These areas, with fairytale castles in nearly every valley, are handy for Ryanair-served Klagenfurt airport near the Slovenia border and Investors in Property is offering furnished three-bed chalets with lake views built to order from €419,409 in Gerlitzen.

"This project offers flexibility for the buyer - they can rent it out through a tour operator but if they don't want to they can keep it as a proper second home," says Delaney.

If you buy newbuild, you can claim the 20 per cent VAT back if you rent out the property, but bear in mind that if you claim this back, you will be taxed the same VAT on rental income.

Purchase costs run at about 6 per cent and mortgages of 70-80 per cent of the propertys value, at 5 per cent interest are easy to obtain - though perhaps not on a Friday afternoon or weekend.