Saint-Raphaël, a popular seaside resort
Yann Cohignac - 06 August 2014
Listed as a “station climatique” since 1914, Saint-Raphaël continues to appeal to tens of thousands of holiday-makers looking for second residences in the sun, and year-round residents who benefit from well-developed infrastructures.
On the border between the Var and Alpes-Maritimes, Saint-Raphaël (pop. 35,000) proposes a Côte d’Azur relatively spared by dense urban development, with residential accommodation taking pride of place. An address appreciated for its pleasant neighbourhoods with their own identities, nestling between the Estérel mountains and a rugged Mediterranean shore. In this landscape comprised of creeks, coves, pinewoods and sandy beaches, amenities and facilities are easy to find. For tourists, who benefit from five sailing harbours and a busy congress centre, but also the locals, who take advantage of the A8 motorway, a TGV station, eight nursery schools, ten primary schools, three intermediate schools, two secondary schools and a hospital centre. Not forgetting that Saint-Raphaël, an economic and cultural centre, boasts monuments from all eras, another aspect of its appeal.
For apartments, “the starting price is 130,000-135,000 € for 1 main room,” says Frédéric Duboé, manager of Laforêt Var Est Immo, with two agencies opened in Saint-Raphaël and Fréjus 25 and 15 years ago, which are constantly moving up the ladder. “For an apartment with 2 main rooms, the price bracket is much wider, as some properties offer large surface areas and a view : from 118,000 to 399,000 €.” The same goes for 3-roomed apartments, ranging from 154,000 to 789,000 € - or 300,000 to 650,000 € on the highly-prized seafront - and those with 4 main rooms, pegged from 170,000 to about 1 million euros. Clients looking for 5 main rooms have a wide choice between 350,000 and 1.4 M €.” As for houses, our portfolio ranges from 304,000 to 1,850,000 € depending on the style and neighbourhood. For example, two of our latest sales involved a recent villa of 126 m2 near the golf-courses in 1,200 m2 of grounds with a pool, priced at 760,000 €, and a house of 230 m2 designed by an architect in Santa-Lucia with an unimpeded view, at 1,262,000 €.” With most of his transactions concerning holiday homes, Frédéric Duboé’s clients are 45 % foreign (British, Swiss and East Euopean). As for French buyers, they come from the Paris region, Lyon and the north. “The town centre also attracts retirees from Saint-Raphaël, wanting to exchange their houses for comfortable apartments closer to amenities.”
Franck Joffrion manages the Riviera Beach Agency, founded in April this year and working in close collaboration with Laforêt Immobilier : “Operating from the same premises, we handle the agency’s portfolio for the upper end of the market”. Prices of apartments thus proposed start from 400,000 € for living space of approx. 80 m2 with high quality appointments, near the sea or centre. “Prices can then rise to over 1 million euros.” Houses range from 600,000 to 2 M €, occasionally even more : one villa of almost 270 m2 (7 main rooms) with panoramic sea view and a pool in 1,560 m2 of grounds is currently on offer at 2,450,000 €. “The majority of our properties are, however, priced from 500,000 to 800,000 €. Our most recent sales include a house of 180 m2 (7 main rooms) with sea view, in grounds of 1,500 m2 with a pool, which sold for 795,000 €.” As choice is wide, only properties offered at fair market prices sell within reasonable periods of time. Chalking up as many sales of holiday homes as year-round residences, Franck Joffrion receives enquiries from all kinds of clients, including many from abroad (especially Swiss and Belgians).
Marc Viale is sales manager for Andélim, a property developer since 2004 and estate agency since 2012 : “The typical property here is a 2-bedroomed apartment in the centre, on an upper floor, intended for permanent or semi-permanent occupancy, with living space of around 75 m2 and priced from 370,000 to 400,000 €”. On the seafront, prices take off, regularly exceeding 10,000 € per sqm. and even attaining 13,000 € per sqm. “For houses, still in steady demand, one can expect to pay from 500,000 to 1.6 M €, though prestige villas at the water’s edge range from 3 to 6 M €. We are, in fact, seeing more offerings for this type of property.” Marc Viale has also noticed that holiday homes - studios and 1-bedroom apartments from 150,000 to 250,000 €, especially in Boulouris or Les Plaines - are still in very steady demand. 70 % of his sales thus concern second residences. “We are contacted by two types of clients : pre-retirees or young retirees with budgets of 500,000 to 600,000 €, and people from the upper socio-professional brackets who can afford to invest over 1 M €.”