Sète and the Bassin de Thau, a diverse choice of homes
By Cécile Olivéro - 17 April 2012
The town is the birthplace of several personalities as prestigious as Paul Valéry, Georges Brassens, Manitas de Plata and Jean Vilar. It was, in fact, Paul Valéry who called Sète “l’île singulière”.
Lapped by the Mediterranean and the Étang de Thau, this fishing port and main town of the canton with 43,000 residents offers a series of micro-markets shared by the locals and holiday-makers. The centre of Sète is mostly composed of apartments, in both old and new buildings. Locals looking for an older property in good condition pay from 2,000 €/m2, or from 3,500 to 4,500 €/m2 in new residences. More original apartments with terraces and quality appointments can also be found, from 1,750 to 4,000 €/m2. On leaving Sète in the direction of Montpellier, the outskirts of the commune appeal to local workers who have decided to leave the town to live in a house and benefit from a small garden. “This is a neighbourhood which is likely to be developed over the coming years,” notes Antoine Mahul of Syllops Immobilier. “The municipality intends to extend its urban planning around the basins of Cayenne, the old loading quays.” At the heart of this up-and-coming neighbourhood, Avenue Maréchal Juin is home to the residence “Bulle Marine”, consisting of 75 apartments with an avant-garde look, heralding the future of Sète. In the 1960’s, the town’s most expensive address, Le Mont Saint-Clair, saw the appearance of some very appealing houses. Their grounds, usually on sloping land, are larger, around 1,000 m2 on average, the view is superb and you have to pay at least 600,000 € to become a lucky owner. “In 2011, I sold five properties at 1 million euros,” says Didier Noguet of the Agence Marianne. “On the hill of Le Mont Saint Clair, it’s not rare to see price-tags ranging from 700,000 to 2 million euros.” Only socio-professional categories with high income can afford this area which is gradually becoming inaccessible for local buyers. 60 % of the purchasers are from outside the commune, predominantly Parisians, Belgians and Swiss.
Second residences are centered around the beach. 60 % consist of apartments, the rest individual houses. In low-rise residences, a 2-bedroom holiday apartment of 35 to 40 m2 with a terrace costs 140,000 €. Standard houses of 100 m2 with gardens of 400 m2 can be found for 240,000-250,000 €, and there is an increasingly marked tendency towards gated estates. In this case, a recent house of 120 to 130 m2 will fetch 300,000 € or 400,000 € if it is over towards the beach. Another observation here : 1960’s houses which are acquired and rehabilitated to become year-round homes. Just as highly-prized, building plots are becoming rare in Sète. Those remaining, around the Bassin de Thau, are priced from 150 to 250 €/m2. Recently, a plot of 400 m2 found a taker at 150,000 €. Overall for our estate-agents, 2011 was a good year. They noticed that, for several years already, Sète and the Bassin de Thau have been drawing a clientele composed 75 % of seniors (50 to 60 year-olds), leaving the Parisian region, the Auvergne, the north and even the PACA region. The Mediterranean’s largest fishing port has turned its diverse offerings and quality life-style into major and very appealing assets.