Cannes : a market showing signs of recovery

Giving precedence to luxury and second residences, the property market in Cannes has been struggling somewhat over the past few years. However, activity now seems to be picking up, especially in the prestige sector.

The third largest town in the Alpes-Maritimes (after Nice and Antibes) with almost 75,000 residents, Cannes is a must address on the Côte d’Azur. A superb seaside resort enjoying international renown since the 19th century, it is still a source of real fascination, admired as a town of luxury, palatial hotels, stars and festivals. Benefiting from well developed infrastructures (several harbours, an airport shared with Mandelieu-la-Napoule, access to the A8 motorway…), it is also an important job pool and features a nearby hub for France’s aeronautical and space industry (site of Thales Alenia Space France).

For all these reasons, its property prices are thus inevitably high : “Most demand is for 2- or 3-bedroomed apartments in the town centre or offering a sea view, priced from 500,000 to 1 M €,” says Jérémie Leclercq, director of Cime Méditerranée, an agency covering all of Cannes and initially, in the 1970’s, the sales office for the Gray d’Albion (a real-estate complex in the centre comprised of a luxury apartment block, a 4-star hotel and shopping mall). “Even though buyers, aiming for the best value for money poss­ible, are more demanding than previously, the market is buoyant for properties under 1 M € - especially in the case of seasonal rental investments -, and those above 2 M €, on the Croisette and along the seafront. Prices have really begun to stabilize.” By way of example, the agency recently sold a 3-bedroomed apartment with sea view, in the Gray d’Albion, at 1.8 M €, a 2-bedroomed apartment, also in the Gray d’Albion and with a sea view, at 2.1 M €, and a 3 bedroomed apartment on the seafront, at 885,000 €. Generally aged from 40 to 70, buyers are both French and foreign: “We are contacted by Scandinavians, Italians, Swiss, Germans, and still a few clients from Eastern Europe”.

Jean-Claude Chermont, director of the Master Conseil Immobilier agency opened in 2008, specializes in prestige apartments and villas in Cannes. In his opinion, 2015 can be split into two phases : “The first six months were hard, whereas the rest of the year has been excellent. Sales have resumed the pace they clocked up in 2009 and 2010”. He also identifies two distinct markets : “The first, consisting of apartments ranging from 400,000 to 1 M €, now widely available, is usually overestimated by owners. However, potential buyers also tend to over-estimate their means, thinking, for example, that a budget of 700,000-800,000 € will allow them to set their sights on properties 20 to 25 % more expensive. It is therefore now essential for estate-agents to give honest estimations when they agree to handle a sale. Otherwise, the time it takes to sell can be very long… The second market concerns properties worth over 1 million euros. At the heart of our target range, it is also active despite one noticeable change : the ratio 70 % foreign clients / 30 % French has reversed”. By way of example, the agency has sold about ten properties over the past six months, including a 3-bedroomed apartment of 100 m2 in the town centre, with sea view, at 900,000 €, another of 130 m2 with panoramic sea view in a residence with a pool and tennis court, at 1.2 M €, and a 4-bedroomed penthouse of 190 m2 with a terrace of 190 m2 and pan­oramic sea view, at 1.8 M €.