Mazan and Saint-Didier, the charm of the Vaucluse

Between fields of vines and cherry orchards, at the foot of Mont-Ventoux, not far from the communes of Carpentras and Avignon, Mazan and Saint-Didier offer quality housing and a lovely natural environment.

In subtle touches, the heritage of Mazan suggests all the ages it has travelled down since that of Antiquity. 7 km from Carpentras, 33 km from the prefecture of the Vaucluse, the village is proud of its medieval bourg, Merovingian tombs and chapels. Vineyards cover 90 % of the territory. Fans of hiking, riding, mountain biking and pot-holing are spoilt for choice in this undulating scenery. Languishing on the foot-hills of the Monts du Vaucluse, Saint-Didier occupies almost 895 acres of land accommodating some 2,000 people. Vines rub shoulders with cherry-trees and truffle-oaks. The agricultural tradition of this well-preserved world dotted with many churches, châteaux, fountains and old wash-houses is self-evident. The Chemin des Oratoires invites fans of the great outdoors on a leisurely 90-minute walk. Every Monday morning, the market is in full swing, while the “cours” plays host to shops and other services on a daily basis.

“Mazan should experience a new lease of life with the introduction of the Carpentras by-pass and shorter driving time to Avignon and its TGV station. It should soon only take 25-30 minutes,” notes Jean-Sébastien Dantonel of Luberon Ventoux Immobilier. Employed in the immediate vicinity or in Le Pontet, two-thirds of his clients are looking for year-round homes. Capable of paying up to 200,000 €, first-time buyers come up against a relatively limited choice of properties on offer. They have two solutions : a small, new or recent house of 80 m2 with a garden of 400 m2, or a building plot of 500 m2 costing 100,000-110,000 €. People with longer-established careers can afford to pay 350,000 € on average. Recently, one such client paid 357,000 € for a house of 140 m2 in good condition, in grounds of 1,300 m2. The remaining one-third of the clientele comprised, among others, of Belgian, Swiss, Dutch and Parisian buyers, usually dispose of budgets ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 € to invest in a holiday home. As soon as one attains or exceeds this symbolic figure, authentic old stone becomes an essential criterion. Overall, however, the majority of sales are under 300,000 €. The cruising speed is satisfactory as long as initial pricing estimates make sense.

“Commercial and arts-and-crafts activities are among the assets offered by Saint-Didier, forming a crossroads between Pernes-les-Fontaines, Venasque, Le Beaucet and Mazan,” says Claudine Thalmann of Ma Provence Immobilier. Benefitting from a recently-opened crèche, nursery and junior schools, this little town offers an efficient school bus service to the intermediate and secondary schools 5 km away. In terms of prices, Saint-Didier is slightly cheaper than Le Beaucet and Venasque, one of the loveliest villages in France, more expensive than Mazan and on the same level as Pernes. Among the most recent sales orchestrated by this agency, Claudine Thalmann cites a house of 110 m2 in perfect condition at the heart of the village, that a Japanese client intends to move into in the very near future, for 180,000 €. Then a couple of self-employed professionals based in the area paid 630,000 € for a “bastide” of 180 m2 offering particularly tasteful interiors on almost 2.5 acres of land, including 4,000 m2 landscaped, facing the Monts du Vaucluse. Another client with much the same profile paid 330,000 € for a new house awaiting completion on about 10 acres of land, offering a breathtaking view of Mont-Ventoux and the Dentelles de Montmirail : the completion work will cost a further 200,000 €. Two groups of clients are currently backing off : purchasers of second residences who are postponing their projects until they can see “a clearer picture”, and first-time buyers, grappling with problems of credit-worthiness and mortgages. Positioned on the 300,000-600,000 € bracket, the agency reports real price stability and relatively smooth activity. The estimate, or even better, expertise, of a property is the prime factor. In these troubled times, an approximate evaluation, a strategy often applied by agencies trying to obtain representation of a property, will hinder, or even kill, the commercial relationship between the parties concerned. A truly professional estate-agent will give priority to in-depth knowledge of the terrain and its immediate surroundings rather than launch into lofty, but inconsequential, praise.

Stéphanie and Jean-Marc Goubert of G Immobilier de Prestige only handle the high end of the market, ie. properties from 600,000 €, a threshold implying a lovely country setting and a home of character. At this price, a client can hope for a village house of 600-700 m2 in need of a lick of paint, opening out to a garden with a pool, on the communes of Mazan, Saint-Didier or Venasque. Close to the Luberon, Gordes and Carpentras, Saint-Didier has its fans, posting prices 10 % higher than those in Mazan. More remote, Venasque is ideal for a holiday home. At 700,000 € or more, one can expect a stone “mas” of 400-600 m2, in need of restoration, with gardens of 3,000-4,000 m2. Once renovated, and when offering more generous grounds, a property can exceed 1 million euros. Most of the buyers are then Parisian or foreign, from Belgium, Germany, Holland or Great Britain. Some nurture the dream of running a guest-house, already operational or to be created. The fourth quarter of this year is proving to be very busy, though that could be due to the announcement of the change in the law on capital gains. Sellers are ready to lower their prices significantly in order to avoid the tax. Prepared to pay cash, buyers are hoping to benefit from slashed prices.