Bordeaux : residences of charm on the right bank

With its rolling green landscapes, the right bank of the Gironde offers pleasant residential areas where attractive residences draw lots of interest. What kind of properties are they ? How much do they cost ? Are lots of them avaialble or are they rather rare ? And who actually buys them ?

Active professionally for over 30 years and manageress of the Immobilier Riva agency based in Latresne since 2002, Lucette Riva handles sales and rentals in the triangle formed by Bouliac, Langoiran and Créon : “An area popular for its privileged environment, not very built-up, yet in immediate proximity to Bordeaux - only 15 minutes away. Thanks to my reputation and long experience, I handle sizeable transactions in the surrounding area. The very fact of being here for so many years, being known and recognized, has enabled me to win the trust of local clients”. Her portfolio thus contains in particular charming residences that are highly prized : “Relatively rare, these properties sell on average between 800,000 and 1.2 M €. They may be contemporary, like one house in Latresne, sheltered from view, offering high-quality appointments, six bedrooms and landscaped grounds of 2,180 m2 with a pool, which is currently up for sale at 988,000 €. Or they may be built of stone, in which case they are often former pieds-à-terre belonging to merchants from Bordeaux, since become year-round residences”. By way of example, a property with five bedrooms, two studies and an adjacent apartment in a park of 5,825 m2 with a pool, is on offer in Quinsac at 1,144,000 €. Noticing a real upturn in activity for high-end properties over the past few months, Lucette Riva receives enquiries from company directors and senior executives. Furthermore, she and her team propose a wide array of high quality homes, which enables them to build a broader view of demand and thus be in a position to respond.

A qualified notary, Sandra Remmy founded her agency City Golf Immo in January, 2015, specializing in sales of properties around golf-courses all over La Gironde (as well as the sale of investment properties in Bordeaux and its greater urban area). Based in Saint-Sulpice-et-Cameyrac, quite appropriately at the edge of the Bordeaux-Cameyrac golf-course, 12 km from Bordeaux, she thus handles decidedly stylish residences on the right bank : “The initial motivation of people wanting to live on a golf-course is not the sport itself, but the idea of living in a pleasant quiet setting, well-maintained and offering pretty scenery and views. Acquiring a house on the greens brings the assurance of investing in a property whose surroundings will never be spoilt and which will continue to rise in value. These properties, mostly in contemporary style and often designed by architects, are priced from 400,000 to 800,000 €”. As evidenced by two examples currently for sale on the Bordeaux-Cameyrac golf-course : on a gated estate with tennis courts and a riding centre, a house of 250 m2 designed by an architect, offering an unimpeded view of the course, in 1,880 m2 of grounds, priced at 575,000 € ; and on the same estate, a contemporary house all on one floor, offering four bedrooms and a study in grounds of 1,800 m2 with a pool, at 625,000 €. “The buyers are comprised of people working in Bordeaux who move here to benefit from more extensive living space, often with pools, at more affordable prices, and clients from other regions of France or abroad, drawn by the climate and quality living conditions offered by the Gironde.”

Dominique Rulleau holds a postgraduate degree in notarial law, is federal administrator of the FNAIM and manager of J.B & D Rulleau Immobilier, a network of four agencies (in Ambarès-et-Lagrave, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Bourg-sur-Gironde and Libourne), specializing since 1940 in stylish houses of character in the country. As director of the agency in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, he covers all of the Gironde (and even neighbouring départements) for large properties, and up to 30 km around the commune for less classic homes : “Our region is seeing high demand as it offers fast access to Bordeaux - about 30 minutes, thanks to the motorway -, but also a much appreciated setting between town and country, enjoying all the necessary amenities. As for residences of charm, the choice here is relatively wide as soon as you distance yourself somewhat from town centres. These bourgeois houses, small châteaux, restored farmhouses, mills etc. are mostly priced from 400,000 to 700,000 €”. One “longère” farmhouse, for instance, with five bedrooms, three lovely reception rooms, an outbuilding and a pretty park of 2,000 m2, recently found a taker 10 km from Saint-André for 480,000 €, while a late 19th-C./early 20th-C. bourgeois house with four bedrooms and a pool, 5 km from the commune, sold for 520,000 €. “Frequently sold by owners wanting to get closer to the agglomeration of Bordeaux or retirees no longer wanting to maintain a large house and its grounds, these properties are in higher demand than they were in 2014. We have seen real improvement in transactions at the top end of the market since the start of the second half of this year.”