The highly diverse area east of Toulouse

This undulating area is made up of towns and villages, more or less dense, pleasant settings for living, quiet and sometimes more affordable at the gateway to the Rose City. From Saint-Orens-de-Gameville to Fenouillet, L’Union to Verfeil, the property market offers a wide range of products and prices.

Part of the greater urban area of Toulouse, Balma is home to 12,950 people. In the second half of the 20th century, it went from a small rural village to a fully-fleged commune with a good array of shops, amenities and a metro connection. Saint-Orens, with 10,700 residents, is 10 km from Toulouse : it offers schools up to secondary level and a large shopping centre. In the 1980’s, it experienced a real boom in population figures. In L’Un-ion, which is as large as Balma, a thousand year-old olive-tree stands on the Place de la Mairie. Its village hall hosts exhibitions and there is a church, a well-known castle and a clinic. Verfeil, with nearly 3,000 residents, is about 20 km from the capital of Haute-Garonne. Its heritage recalls the richness of its past, beginning with fortified portals, the castle, the Church of Saint-Blaise and La Croix Digne.

Jean-Paul Touche of the Avantim agency covers the area from Saint-Orens to Fenouillet, including Balma, Aucamville and Launaguet. All these localities are on the borderline with the City of Violets and benefit from quick and easy access to the ring-road as well as the motorways heading towards Albi, Bordeaux, Paris, Montpellier and Narbonne. The train line reaches municipalities situated between Albi, Montrabé and Mon-tastruc-la-Conseillère. Metro-users particularly appreciate these addresses. Those who take the B line can park at the stations of Borderouge and La Vache ; those using Line A jump off at Gramont. Potential buyers pass quite naturally, in one direction or the other, the ring-road that defines the boundary of Toulouse. It is, in fact, more up to the property and its amenities to make the difference. First-time buyers pay 80,000 to 200,000 € for apartments with two, three or four main rooms, while individual houses start at 200,000 €. A single-storey house of 131 m2 in Balma, in good condition and with a garden of 700 m2, recently found a taker at 350,000 €. Another of 180 m2 with a garden of 300 m2 and a garage sold for 490,000 € over towards La Côte Pavée, a well-known neighbourhood on the hills east of Toulouse. On both sides of the ring-road, the market is relatively active.

“L’Union, Saint-Jean, Castelmaurou and Rouffiac-Tolosan lie in the first belt around Toulouse. These small residential communities give priority to houses which suit retirees and executives with children, looking for the quietness of towns on a human scale, without sacrificing the amenities,” says Gérald Auzer of Orpi Saint-Jean ABC Conseils. He distinguishes two main targets : “pavillons” of 90-100 m2 with small gardens, costing 220,000-270,000 €, and villas of 120-150 m2 in grounds of 800-1,000 m2, ranging from 340,000 to 360,000 €. The area is characterized by steady demand and a limited supply. Furthermore, some owners still show a tendency to overprice their properties. Proximity to, or remoteness from, Toulouse justifies the differences in prices. It should, however, be noted that Rouffiac carries all the votes. The scenery here is attractive, peaceful and airy. To obtain a building permit, one needs a plot of at least 2,000 m2.

“Verfeil still retains the architectural traces of its golden age when it produced pastels. As in all of the Pays de Cocagne, you can find properties of style and character, manor houses or residences opening out to wooded parks,” says Carine Gouazé of Verfeil Immobilier. These houses appeal to people working in Toulouse with a fondness for old stones and a rural setting, often senior executives or transferees, with budgets of at least 270,000 €. Which is the amount being asked for a farm of 200 m2 to restore, in grounds of 6,000-7,000 m2. The same type of property 10 km further out can be had for 50,000 € less. There is a symbolic frontier resulting in two radically different price grids. A house of genuine charm, tastefully restored and with easy access to employment pools, is very highly-prized. After only one month on the agency files, one such example of 300 m2, revamped in contemporary style, with a garden of 4,000 m2 in the centre of Verfeil, changed hands at 530,000 €. Some clients plan to run guest-houses. In parallel, first-time buyers capable of paying a total of 200,000-250,000 € for a home show an interest in building land. A serviced plot of 1,000 m2 on an estate in Verfeil costs 90,000-105,000 € : if not on an estate, a plot of 1,500-2,500 m2 will fetch 90,000-110,000 €. From this point of view, the PTZ+ provides real support. The proposed expressway between Toulouse and Castres should provide fresh added value for the region east of Toulouse. Today, its real-estate market is healthy and chalking up steady growth. Yet estate-agents should not be complacent. It is their job to keep both parties informed and regulate prices by supplying correct estimates and well-founded arguments right from the start of the selling process.