Le Comminges, a rural enclave

Crossed by the Garonne, this region is a series of colourful landscapes, from snow-capped mountains on the Spanish border to the alluvial plain heading towards pools of employment. A tour of Carbonne, Saint-Martory and Saint-Gaudens…

A distinction should be drawn between the historic county between Muret and Luchon, La Haute-Garonne, L’Ariège, Le Gers and Les Hautes-Pyrénées, and Le Pays de Comminges, ie. the 236 communes in the “arrondissement” of Saint-Gaudens. Toulouse, the largest job-provider, is a 30-minute drive under the best conditions and 1 hour from Saint-Gaudens, the first urban area in this region at the foot of the Pyrenees, equidistant from the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

“Carbonne is home to 5,240 people between Le Comminges and Le Volvestre, 40 km south-west of Toulouse,” explains Virginie Wiroth of the Agence Wiroth. “On the railway line linking Bayonne to Toulouse, it has a train station, lots of clubs and associations, all the amenities and shops required for everyday life, and schools up to intermediate level.” The top priority for buyers who are still employed is often to be near the station and dual carriageway. They mostly work in the capital of Haute-Garonne. Demand mainly concerns 3-bedroomed villas, priced from 180,000 to 200,000 € depending on their condition. Budgets fall to 160,000 € the closer one gets to Montesquieu. In today’s climate, sellers who acquired their homes in 2007 are finding it hard to recover their initial outlay, though they occasionally stick to their guns and maintain unrealistic prices. This understandable attitude widens the gap between supply and demand. Two of the agency’s last five sales were first-time acquisitions ; meanwhile, retirees and investors are thin on the ground.

“Saint-Martory lies 60 km from the border with Spain, at the intersection between the main Toulouse-Tarbes and Saint-Girons-Auch roads,” says Gérard Fouert of Terre Immo. “Except in the rush hour, it takes 40 minutes to drive the 70 km between the village of Le Comminges and the prefecture of Haute-Garonne. The suburban area lies on the right bank of the Garonne, the old part on the left bank, down below L’Escalère.” Eight km away, the train station in Boussens, recently treated to considerable investment, is a significant boon. From 6 to 8 a.m. and 4.30 to 7.30 p.m., a train service caters for people working in Toulouse every 20 minutes. Every day, over 300 cars fill the car-park, and car-pooling is also a popular solution. Clients are drawn by prices 30-40 % lower than those in the first ring around the city, for both acquisitions and rented accommodation. The average budget is about 150,000 €, which brings a recent “pavillon” of 100 m2 with grounds of 2,000 m2 or a “Commingeoise” to renovate. Capable of paying up to 200,000 €, retirees like the peaceful setting, its quality life-style and the climate, sheltered from the Autan wind. Given the stocks of properties on hand, which have grown considerably, buyers make high demands and readily challenge the prices posted. This brings into play the estate-agents’ powers of persuasion : they in fact have to convince sellers to match prices currently practised in the market to avoid lengthening lead-times before completion and thus the inevitable risk of a property’s depreciation.

David Arrouy of the Cabinet Occitan is based in Saint-Gaudens. The sub-prefecture has 13,480 inhabitants, 31,255 in its urban area, 90 km from Toulouse in the “Piémont pyrénéen” (pre-Pyrenees). Companies and industrial firms have moved in here, offering locals on-site jobs. “Le Comminges has a highly diverse range of housing. Prices have hit a barrier, starting with those of building land, at a time when interest rates are particularly appelaing,” says this specialist who also works in the field of construction. His latest sales were all under 150,000 €, the sum required for a single-storey house of 90-100 m2, built in the 1990’s in grounds of 1,500 m2. The only requests for homes above 250,000 € come from clients with plans for an investment in the “green tourism” sector”, well-off seniors or people working from home, who all tend to compare Le Comminges with other addresses within a radius of 100 km. All requirements combined, this type of demand remains minimal.

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