Real estate in Bordeaux and the Arcachon basin
Data from the Gironde Chamber of Notaries presented at the beginning of February indicate that Bordeaux real estate performed very well in 2022 and that the market is far from a downturn.
“Prices generally continued to rise in 2022 in Gironde, which remains at the top of the list of the most expensive departments. The median price per m² of old apartments increased by +2.8%, the price of new apartments by +2.3% and the price of houses by +6.4%. Bordeaux remained, as in 2021, the 2nd most expensive among major French cities, behind Lyon,” said the President of the Chamber.
“Generally speaking, the acquisition of a property in Bordeaux or its surrounding area is often a family project, since the ideal living environment, the human-scale city, and the renowned schools are in line with the desire for a lifestyle change. Business is also growing as more and more companies are setting up their head office or expanding their branches in Bordeaux in order to benefit from the proximity to Paris (only 2 hours by train) and a region rich in young talent (particularly in the French-Tech sector, one of the most dynamic in the French territory),” says Alexandre Brachet, Associate Director of the John Taylor Bordeaux branch. The influx of Paris buyers, explained in part by the opening of the two-hour Bordeaux-Paris train line in 2017, now has a limited impact on the prices of Bordeaux real estate, since according to John Taylor’s expert, “Parisians represent between 10 and 15% of buyers in Bordeaux and the basin. It is a misperception that they represent a majority of the buyers on the Bordeaux market. However, they remain active buyers in the region. As for international customers, since the lifting of health restrictions, we are once again seeing enthusiasm among foreign customers for investing in Bordeaux.”
With regard to the type of property, “If properties with outdoor space are still in high demand, the apartments in the centre of Bordeaux are doing very well. In addition, traditional Bordeaux turn-of-the-century houses and hôtel particuliers remain sought after by a clientele that is particularly attracted to the Bordeaux architectural style,” says Alexandre Brachet.
Just a few kilometres from Bordeaux, property prices in the Arcachon basin are not falling either. Luxury properties for sale in Cap Ferret are rare. This is why buyers agree to extend their research to surrounding municipalities.
According to a study by Coldwell Banker and PriceHubble, the average price per square metre of the 10% most popular prestige properties offered at Lège-Cap-Ferret reached €21,450 last year, more than in Cannes (€13,961 per m²).
Biarritz / Bayonne / Anglet: towards a rebalancing of real estate prices
Bayonne, Biarritz and Anglet take second, third and fourth place in the rankings of the best cities in which to live in France. This new ranking reinforces the attractiveness of Basque Country, where the population grew by up to 18%, depending on the city, between 2014 and 2020. However, the housing supply remains limited in the face of this demographic pressure. “The Basque Coast real estate market is a closed market. It is closed off by the ocean to the west, by the Pyrenees to the east, by Spain and the Spanish border to the south and by the Landes to the north. This is one of the reasons that makes it a market with a limited real estate supply,” says Benoit Verdet, founder of Prestant luxury real estate network.
Despite relatively high prices per square metre, the number of sales on the Basque Coast remained stable between 2021 and 2022. However, “Over the past six months, we have seen a landing of the local real estate market, which has contracted from 5% to 10%. The supply-demand ratio is balancing out after the post-Covid overheating in 2021 and the start of last year. The hyper-high end market continues to rise,” says Benoit Verdet.
Half of the buyers of prestige properties on the Basque Coast are non-French residents, often with “a first major entrepreneurial success abroad that allows them to work remotely,” says Prestant’s founder. Scandinavian, Belgian and English buyers are also very present and their search area is wider than that of French buyers. They focus their attention on more spacious properties and are therefore open to looking for property located much farther from the coast.
Reduced real estate supply in Saint-Jean-de-Luz
Saint-Jean-de-Luz’s surface area is twice as large as that of Biarritz, which allows for a broader range of property offers in this town on the Atlantic Coast, even though the housing supply is relatively small due to the large number of second homes (about 47% of housing). Faced with the shortage in real estate, the city has launched a voluntary new housing construction programme.
Prices average €7,847 per m² for an old apartment and €7,612 per m² for a house. Prices obviously depend on the neighbourhood (hypercentre, Sainte-Barbe district, Aice Errota, Fargeot, Lake district).
More affordable real estate in the Landes
In the back country, cities in Landes such as Mont-de-Marsan offer more opportunities in terms of housing and properties for sale. In Mont-de-Marsan, prices average €2,444 per m² for an apartment and €2,081 per m² for a house.
50 kilometres from Mont-de-Marsan, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, Dax is also attracting buyers. Prices average €2,808 per m² for an apartment and €2,350 per m² for a house.
