The “Pays de Saint-Louis et des Trois-Frontières”

Benefiting from an advantageous location at the crossroads between France, Germany and Switzerland, the “Pays de Saint-Louis et des Trois-Frontières” is a lively area highly-prized by people working just across the borders.

Comprised of three “intercommunalités” (the “communautés de communes” of Les Trois-Frontières, La Porte du Sundgau and Le Pays de Sierentz), the “Pays de Saint-Louis et des Trois-Frontières” encompasses 41 communes with over 65,000 inhabitants of whom 20,000 live in Saint-Louis, the town with the third largest population in the Upper Rhine. An address only 3.5 km as the crow flies from the centre of Basel (21 km from Mulhouse), which benefits in particular from the A35 motorway, TGV station and international Basel-Mulhouse-Fribourg airport (EuroAirport).

“This special location and its economic vitality inevitably draw people working across the border who thus account for the largest share of our clientele,” says Sébastien Ciavarella, manager of CGA Immobilier, an agency opened in Saint-Lous in 1989 (sales, rentals and property management). In the case of apartments, prices in new residences (parking places extra) range from 2,800 to 3,200 € per sq. metre. “In older buildings, you can expect to pay from 30,000 to 40,000 € for an apartment with 1 main room, 90,000 to 120,000 € for 2 main rooms, and upwards for 3 main rooms, such as one example of 60 m2 sold with a garage for about 120,000 €. However, due to the relative instability of prices for residences built in the 1960’s-1970’s due to excessively high co-ownership charges, one can find some real bargains : for example, we recently handled the sale of several 2-bedroomed apartments of 70 to 80 m2 priced from 100,000 to 110,000 €.” As for detached houses, whose prices seem to have stopped declining, the majority of availabilities are those in the 300,000-350,000 € bracket. “Below 250,000 €, the market is still lively, unlike that of properties on offer from 400,000 to 600,000 €, which take longer to sell.”

Also based in Saint-Louis, Stéphane Zwingelstein is co-manager of Staub Immobilier, an agency founded in 1998 (sales and rentals) : “In the Pays de Saint-Louis et des Trois-Frontières, studios in old buildings can be found from 35,000 €, 1-bedroomed apartments from 60,000 to 140,000 €, and 2- or 3-bedroomed apartments from 100,000 to 250,000 €. It all depends on the property’s location and overall condition.” In new residences, Stéphane Zwingelstein reports prices from 3,000 to 3,400 € per sqm. He often receives enquiries for houses ranging from 250,000 to 350,000 €, corresponding to living space of 120-150 m2 with gardens of 500 to 600 m2. “We are also seeing demand for exceptional properties, such as a master residence of 320 m2 in grounds of 2,350 m2, which sold for 880,000 €.” Finally, building plots, “hard to find in this region” but in strong demand, cost from 20,000 to 24,000 € per 100 m2.