Living in La Baule

This seaside resort on the Côte d’Amour owes its renown to its long sandy beach, its casino, palatial hotels and international golf-course. Its year-round population of 16,000 residents swells to 150,000 in summer. Holiday-makers’ loyalty is certainly not weakening, and more and more people see La Baule as an attractive permanent address, both peaceful and convenient.

The town’s tourist industry developed towards the end of the 19th century when wealthy families began to have substantial villas built at the edge of the beach. A very fashionable venue in the Roaring ’Twenties, La Baule went through a difficult period in the 1930’s and throughout World War II, only making a comeback in the early 1960’s. 73 km from Nantes, it shares its beach, considered as one of the loveliest in Europe, with Le Pouliguen and Pornichet.

“The majority of buyers are looking for holiday homes, though year-round residences are gaining ground in this commune with a full range of shops and amenities, largely led by seniors from outside the region who have close ties with La Baule,” says Jacques Pichaud of Multimer Immobilier. The quality life-style and proximity to large towns cons­titute its main arguments. Vannes is a 45-minute drive away, Nantes and Rennes 1 hour, Angers 1 hour 15 minutes, and Paris a 3-hour train ride. Capable of paying cash for their acquisitions, these 60 year-olds target apartments of 100-120 m2 with terraces and garages, or houses with a spacious living-room and four bedrooms in which they regularly entertain their families. Depending on the res­idence’s age and appointments, a apartment on the seafront costs from 6,000 to 10,000 € per sq. metre (also depending on its condition), from 5,000 to 7,000 € in the town centre. The most modest house starts at 500,000 € in the centre, where one finds the market, Avenue du Général de Gaulle and Avenue Lajarrige, the Town-hall, train station and main post office. Properties right at the water’s edge, which are pretty scarce in La Baule, cons­titute a niche market defying all logic. All segments combined, a property in La Baule is seen as a sound long-term investment.

“Over the next decade, strong population growth is anticipated on the Loire-Atlantique shoreline,” explains Christophe Pernaud of Christophe Pernaud Conseil Immobilier. “But the heart of La Baule, ie. the area within walking distance of the boutiques and beaches, is not extendable. While everyone sets their hearts on buying a home here, few are fully aware of the prices they will need to pay.” Nevertheless, as soon as a new development with large apartments rises from the ground, it finds takers without too much difficulty. By way of example, a recent apartment of 100 m2 on a quiet road near shops and bathing spots is pegged somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 €. Recently, a company director acquired a house of 120 m2 in need of a revamp behind Le Royal-Thalasso, with a garden of 500 m2, for 700,000 €. This type of purchase is closely linked to the notion of a safe investment. Whatever the national and international economic context, seaside resorts such as La Baule are putting up good resistance. The Benoît neighbourhood near the beach tops the popularity polls, though the close periphery broadens the commune’s range of offerings, already relatively wide, with a choice of properties priced from 300,000 to 500,000 €. In fact, a 4-bedroom house which needs freshening up, with a garden of 626 m2, can be had for 273,000 €.

Françoise Beaulande of Beaulande Immobilier runs the family estate agency which was opened in 1946 in La Baule. “Motorway, rail and air connections have opened up the destination, which is now lively year-round thanks to its daily market, numerous sports associations, cinema and schools, including the international secondary school.” The so-called well-off clientele seek villas in the centre, priced from 500,000 to 3 million euros. Most apartments range from 3,500 to 10,000 €/m2, though some developments rise above that level. Such is the case for a residence currently offering units from 12,000 to 15,000 €/m2. After selling their homes or businesses in a large city, retirees like to invite their children and grandchildren for their holidays. As for young locals, they set their sights on neighbourhoods further out and therefore more affordable, such as Escoublac, Le Guézy or Le Grand Clos. In order to accommodate the next gener­ations, the commune is obliged to propose alternative solutions.