Le Cros-de-Cagnes : a seaside town with lots of character

Once a busy fishing village, Le Cros-de-Cagnes is the seafront sector of the commune of Cagnes-sur-Mer. Close to Nice and especially its airport, it is characterized by small houses surrounded by blocks of apartments.

Founded in the 19th century by Italian fishermen, Le Cros-de-Cagnes is today a lively seaside resort. Benefiting from its proximity to Nice and the A8 motorway, as well as a train station on the TER line, it proposes lots of shops and social activities all year round thanks, in particular, to the popularity of the Hippodrome of the Côte d’Azur. Le Cros is also a neighbourhood which has succeeded in preserving its architecture and picturesque soul with its small streets, fishermen’s houses at the foot of blocks of apartments, an authentic fishing harbour still accommodating traditional “pointu” fishing boats, and Place Saint-Pierre with its famous “boulistes”. Furthermore, Le Cros has benefited from regular and successful rehabilitation.

This attractiveness and charm inevitably come at a certain cost : “For seafront apartments, prices, which vary considerably from one residence to the next, range from 4,500 to 7,000 € per sq. metre. Though as soon as you go further inland, they become more affordable, falling to 3,000 € per sqm. on the Avenue de Nice,” explains Olivier Vignoli, negotiator for Azur Immo 2000, an agency based in Le Cros-de-Cagnes since the early 1990’s. Covering Cagnes-sur-Mer from Les Vespins to the Hippodrome, as well as occasionally Saint-Paul-de-Vence, La Colle-sur-Loup and Vence, it handles both sales and seasonal rentals. “As for fishermen’s houses, their rarity justifies particularly high prices : one can expect to pay from 400,000 to 500,000 € for small examples with living space of 70 to 100 m2.” Even rarer : new accommodation. “The area was already built-up by the 1960’s-1970’s.” Olivier Vignoli’s clients are mostly retirees from all over France and abroad (Italy, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia...), looking for second homes.

Arnaud Pomies, manager of Partners Immo, an agency opened in Cagnes-sur-Mer in 2005, has the same type of clientele : “For 1-bedroomed apartments, senior citizens dispose of budgets ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 €. For 2-bedroomed apartments, they pay from 300,000 to 400,000 €. Though they insist on properties with terraces, parking facilities and generous surface areas. And a sea view is, of course, in high demand.” Covering the shoreline from Saint-Laurent-du-Var to Villeneuve-Loubet, Arnaud Pomies manages another agency in Vence which enables him to operate not only there, but also in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and La Colle-sur-Loup, even La Gaude and Saint-Jeannet. In the case of Le Cros, he says prices are stable at around 5,000 € per sqm. on the seafront and rising up to 8,000 € per sqm. in certain luxury residences. “The fishermen’s houses which largely contribute to the area’s charm, and which range from 80 to 100 m2 with gardens of 200 to 300 m2, change hands between 400,000 and 500,000 €.”