La Baule, a sound investment
By Laetitia Rossi - 11 July 2011
Offering lots of diversity, the architectural heritage of La Baule bears the traces of different eras. Provençal “mas” rub shoulders with Savoyard chalets, houses typical of Brittany, Normandy and the Basque country, while contemporary apartment buildings on the seafront are largely inspired by esthetics with an American accent. 16,750 people live here year round : in the high season, the resort accommodates 150,000 summer residents.
Gardens, both public and private, hold a candle to the 116 acres of forestland and 1,605 acres of pinewoods. Tourists appreciate the Brière Regional Nature Park, the medieval town of Guérande and the harbours of La Turballe and Le Croisic, famous for their anchovies and sardines. The beach 8 km long, shared by the commune of La Côte d’Amour, 74 km from Nantes, with Pornichet and Le Pouliguen, is, however, the destination’s main asset. Not forgetting the quality of sports facilities, including the renowned golf-course and 120 tennis courts. Vélocéan with its 126 km of cycling tracks is on a site within the urban area of Saint-Nazaire. Casino-Benoît is considered the most select neighbourhood. It accommodates luxury hotels such as Le Royal-Thalasso Barrière, L’Hermitage Barrière, Le Majestic and the Relais & Châteaux Castel Marie-Louise, as well as the congress centre called Atlantia. Over 60 % of the housing stock consists of holiday homes.
Since May 2010, Monique Clément of the Orpi Agence Grand Large has noticed a good pick-up in activity. 90 % of potential clients target the town centre or the beach. Seafront apartments are generally priced from 8,000 to 15,0000 €/m2, with those further back dropping to 4,000 €/m2. Buyers pay on average 400,000 € for apartments. Houses in the neighbourhoods of Les Oiseaux and Les Arbres, around Avenue De Gaulle and in La Baule-les-Pins, a more airy address, are highly prized. Recently, one example of 200 m2 in need of some refurbishment, with a garden of 800 m2 but no view, sold for 885,000 €, a price justified by its quiet location and especially the short distance separating it from the market and bathing areas. Similarly, a house of 110 m2 to restore found a taker at 550,000 € for much the same reasons. Building land, costing 350-450 €/m2, is scarce. Eight out of every ten sales concern holiday homes. The TGV, linking La Baule to the capital in just 3 hours, allows for a permanent flow of Parisian clients. Retirees are also fans of La Baule, hoping to treat themselves to a home to be used virtually year-round. Finding accommodation is, hower, a daunting challenge for the locals who often fall back on the outskirts of the town, far more attractively priced. Monique Clément regrets the recurring lack of consistency between the prices posted and the expectations and capabilities of potential buyers. A certain greediness inevitably puts a brake on the flow of transactions.
“The top end of the market is doing relatively well,” comments Denis Péris of the Agence Péris Sotheby’s International Realty. 98 % of his clients are French : 40 % from the Parisian region, 30 % from Nantes and Angers, 20 % from Rennes and Mayenne. An apartment in one of the residences with five floors maximum on the Benoît beach is the nec-plus-ultra. Apart from the ocean, clients prepared to pay 10,000-15,000 €/m2 also appreciate the beautifully maintained esplanade and the tennis courts slightly to the rear. Recently, one buyer paid 475,000 € for an apartment of 126 m2 in need of restoration, with a terrace of 30 m2 and double garage. The rest of the bay, separated from the stretch of sand by a road, is one notch below in the popularity stakes. The portion between the Casino and Avenue De Gaulle, for example, ranges from 8,000 to 10,000 €/m2, depending on the property’s age, floor and the size of the terraces overlooking the sea. Older buildings in La Baule-les-Pins post similar prices that gradually decrease as one approaches Pornichet. Between the Benoît area and Avenue Lajarrige, stone villas of character are worth from 600,000 to 1.5 million euros, whereas houses facing the Atlantic in Penchâteau cost from 1.5 to 4 million. Classification of the majority of buildings on the seafront requires owners to comply with certain regulations if they undertake refurbishment.
“La Baule certainly draws of lot of interest, though by practising certain prices, it loses some clients to other locations, such as the Ile de Ré and the Bassin d’Arcachon. Yet frequently, the buyer’s decision can be swayed by a difference of just 10 %. It’s in everyone’s interest to be aware of this,” warns Claude Girard of Immo France La Baule. Unfortunately, the argument is hard to justify : faced by a lack of available properties, the lure of sole representation prevails and all parties end up wasting their time. Tired out... some by fruitless visits, others by tough negotiations. One occasional resident set his sights on a top-floor apartment of 133 m2 in a desirable building on the Benoît beach. The 47 m2 of terraces partly accounted for the asking price of 2,098,000 €. Proof that the exceptional still has its fans, despite very high prices. The problem pertains more to so-called middle-range properties, whose prices the owners would be well advised to revise downward. The whole point is to strike the right balance.