The Côte Bleue, a well-preserved area at the gateway to Marseille

Le Rove, Ensuès-la-Redonne, Carry-le-Rouet, Sausset-les-Pins, La Couronne, Carro… These little-known communes form a strip of the shoreline west of Marseille, joining up with the neighbourhood of L’Estaque. With scenery composed of creeks, small beaches and picturesque harbours, this carefully preserved area with easy access is a unique micro-market in the département of Les Bouches-du-Rhône.

Crystal-clear water, lush pinewoods, intimate coves, white limestone cliffs… A relaxed Provençal atmosphere reigns over this unique region. In 1950, this wild coastline was home to only 3,000 inhabitants. Throughout the ’seventies, developers built estates and residences, though not excessively, as the area was classified as a wooded zone, thus creating a natural backcloth for some charming villas. An area that cannot be extended, the Côte Bleue appeals for its lovely scenery and scarce availability of properties. Especially as its villages are strategically loc­ated less than 30 minutes from Marseille, Aix-en-Provence and the Marignane Airport. With Martigues as their neighbour, La Couronne and Carro are small, well-preserved seaside villages, while Ensuès-la-Redonne benefits from its proximity to the famous creeks known as “calanques”.

“Villas offering generous living space and vast grounds are to be found more in Carry-le-Rouet,” says Michèle Cambiaggi, a consultant with the A2Mimmo agency. A native of the Côte Bleue, she proposes a personal approach to real estate ranging from financing to advice on urban planning. Buyers consisting of executives working in Marseille or around L’Etang de Berre - a major job provider in the region - are mostly looking for year-round homes. “Often transferred by companies in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux or Montpellier, they arrive with budgets from 500,000 to 1 million euros. They fall for the charm of this stretch of the coast, not far from the motorway taking them to their workplaces in about 20 minutes.” Neighbourhoods such as the estate of Barqueroute are highly sought-after. Substantial homes of 200 to 300 m2 here cost from 700,000 €. “Rather rare, properties right at the water’s edge can attain 2 million euros,” adds our specialist who, for this type of exceptional property, advises clients who are sellers to make videos which are then put on-line on the agency’s YouTube pages. The stock is of high quality and prices of villas are hardly affected at all by the economic climate. Desirable properties up for sale include a neo-Provençal “bastide” of 200 m2 designed by an architect, in Carry-le-Rouet. Offering a reception room of 60 m2, a view of the sea and grounds of 1,340 m2 with a pool, it is priced at 1,200,000 €.

Sausset-les-Pins is the second flagship address on the Côte Bleue. Enjoying a more relaxed, family-style reputation (Sausset takes children from the crèche to “collège” or intermediate level), it attracts buyers looking for a quiet, authentic environment. “2014 turned out to be a better year than the two previous ones,” says Christelle Badet, manageress of the Laforêt agencies in Martigues and Sausset-les-Pins. Villas here sell from 400,000 € with renovation on the cards, to around 500,000 € when they offer a sea view. Among her most recent sales indicative of current market conditions, she mentions a 3-bedroomed villa in need of renovation, built in the 1980’s, with a garden of 500 m2, acquired for 355,000 € by a family from L’Isère. The most built-up commune on the Côte Bleue, Sausset proposes a diverse market which not­ably includes apartments. Small surface areas are mostly of interest to French clients looking for a seaside pied-à-terre. A few buyers from Marseille and Aix also see here an opportunity to make nearby rental investments, while enjoying their properties personally every now and again. “An apartment of 25 m2 with one main room can be found from 140,000 €.”