Mandelieu-la-Napoule : a residential area

A lively seaside resort in the western part of the Alpes-Maritimes, Mandelieu-la-Napoule is spread out on the hillsides running down to the sea. It proposes pleasant residential accommodation at prices lower than in the nearby town of Cannes.

Ideally located between Théoule-sur-Mer and Cannes, Mandelieu-la-Napoule has lots of appealing arguments : a protected environment (San Peyre park…), sandy beaches, hiking paths, golf-courses, a casino and harbour (pleasure boating)… All reached via the A8 motorway and an airport catering for private jets and planes, as well as helicopters. Its 22,000 residents can also count on the services of many shops, 11 nursery and primary schools, 2 intermediate schools, while benefiting from a wide choice of cultural and sports activities (mimosa fête - Mandelieu is its world capital - comic-strip festival, international rowing event…).

In this privileged residential area typical of the Riviera, “prices for apartments start from 3,000 € per sq. metre. From 4,000 to 5,000 € per sqm., appointments begin to offer very high quality. And beyond 5,000 € per sqm., properties are more prestigious and benefit from views of the sea,” says Jean Amyot, manager of two family-run agencies : Orpi - Euro Agence and Orpi - AB Partners, opened respectively in the 1990’s in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, and in 2013, also covering Théoule-sur-Mer, Les Adrets-de-l’Estérel and Tanneron (areas in which Orpi was not yet represented). “A studio thus sells from 100,000 to 150,000 €, a 1-bedroomed apartment from 150,000 to 250,000 €. As for 2-bedroomed apartments, they fetch 200,000 to 400,000 €, even more for exceptional examples.” On the market for detached villas, Jean Amyot has noticed a drop in prices : “Standard houses of about 150 m2 in grounds of 1,500-2,000 m2 with pools, which sold three or four years ago from 1 to 1.2 million euros, are now on offer from 800,000 to 1 million euros”. Even so, “the average decline is very slight, not exceeding 5 %. The market is buoyant and we haven’t seen any slowdown in activity. Quite the contrary”. With his policy of “the right price” and 70 % of sole-agent mandates accounting for 95 % of his sales, Jean Amyot chalked up over 76 real-estate “projects” completed by the two agencies in the first four months of the year.

Christian Berti manages four agencies in Mandelieu : the Agence de la Poste, Berti Prestige, L’Immobilière de la Côte d’Azur (in the prestigious Domaine Le Grand Duc) and Paris Esterel. Specializing in high-end properties since 1977, he also covers Théoule and the hinterland : “We receive lots of requests for recent apartments with 2 or 3 bedrooms, priced from 500,000 to 700,000 €, and detached houses from 700,000 to 1.6 million euros”. Focusing on a “highly-prized sector with attractive villas with sea views”, our estate-agent nevertheless mentions a slight decline in both sales volume and prices : “Following several years of soaring prices, they have now returned to levels registered 4 or 5 years ago. Lower than in Cannes, they now offer genuine opportunities, especially for large apartments”. Christian Berti also points out that “a view of the sea is still an extremely important factor, even becoming indispensable for properties pegged from 1 to 3 million euros”. His clientele is mainly comprised of retirees with substantial resources and executives, two-thirds of whom are non-resident.

“A property offering a sea view can immediately add 20 to 25 % to its market price,” confirms Bernard Delsaut, manager of Laforêt Immobilier, an agency opened in 2011 covering Mandelieu and Théoule. “For apartments, other decisive criteria include the residence’s prestige and environment : swimming pool, gardens, guardian… In classic residences, the price per sqm. ranges from 3,500 to 4,500 €, in high-class residences from 5,000 to 7,000 € as, for example, in the case of the Domaine Le Grand Duc.” As for houses, “which almost all have pools”, average prices range from 4,500 to 5,500 €/ per sqm., though one can also find “superb villas in modern style with sea views at 7,000-8,000 € per sqm”. Properties on the hills enjoy magnificent views, “but they suffer from the disadvantage of being built on sloping ground. The same problem arises, of course, for building plots”. Bernard Delsaut has in fact observed a 5 % drop in prices every 6 months. His clients are mostly young couples looking for their first homes - a standard apartment with 1 or 2 bedrooms - and retirees or those close to retirement, in search of a lovely house with a view of the sea.

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