The property market in Valbonne, Opio and Le Rouret

Yann Cohignac - 05 February 2016

Communes in the hinterland, Valbonne, Opio and Le Rouret are pleasant residential areas popular among a local clientele, retirees and foreign buyers looking for holiday homes. Markets underpinned by steady demand…

Playing host to the largest part of Sophia Antipolis, Europe’s N°1 science and technology park, Valbonne is a commune with less than 15,000 residents which acts as a lively hub for the back-country. Especially as it benefits from the proximity of the Riviera coastline (about a 20-minute drive to Cannes or Antibes). It is also, however, a quiet address in a privileged environment, centered around a typical Provençal village and thus offering genuine charm and authenticity. “The real backbone of the area, Valbonne has lots of fans. Its appeal rubs off on neighbouring communes, especially Opio, Mouans-Sartoux and Biot, where a good number of clients choose to live in order to enjoy the village life and infrastructures they find in Valbonne,” says Chantal Agier, owner-manageress of the Agence de l’Olivier, founded in 1982, with two branches in the village covering the surrounding area within a radius of about 8 km. A former legal expert, perfectly bilingual, with long experience of the market, using communication tools to reach an international clientele and offering her clients personalized service, she specializes in houses of character such as “mas” and “bastides”. She recently sold, for example, a house with five main rooms in Mouans-Sartoux in grounds of 3,200 m2 with a guest cottage and charming view, priced at 1,850,000 €. “Our most recent sale in Valbonne was a house with six main rooms in 3,875 m2 of grounds with a pool and views of the sea and mountains, priced at 1,050,000 €.” As prices have undergone an adjustment since 2008, the market share of French buyers - mainly retirees and pre-retirees - has risen. “Even so, foreigners, mostly from Scandinavia, still account for almost 70 % of our sales.”

Based in Le Rouret since 1983, L’Adresse Opio Rouret Immobilier (handling sales and rental management) mainly focuses on this quiet Provençal commune with 4,000 residents, together with Opio, Châteauneuf-Grasse and Roquefort-les-Pins. In this area midway between Cannes and Nice (approx. 25 km) and very close to Grasse (about 10 km), the market is also highly prized. “Demand here certainly outstrips supply,” says manageress Jeanne-Chantal Brun-Signoret. “In addition to the quality living conditions offered by Opio and Le Rouret, it can be explained by the enticing decline in prices we have seen since 2012, as much as 20 % depending on the property’s quality. Another factor is that many owners prefer to wait before putting up their properties for sale. Others over-price their homes. But nowadays, only properties proposed at market price actually sell. So some remain on offer for several years. Calling on a professional to set a coherent price and benefit from an efficient network is thus more vital than ever before.” With regard to the top end of the market, the number of mostly foreign clients is also now more limited, though they are more serious and determined. “In fact, in Opio and Le Rouret, several properties have recently found takers at prices over 2 million euros.” The most frequent sales concern members of the local working population with budgets of about 500,000 €, and buyers looking for holiday homes in the 850,000 to 1 M € bracket. “Finally, there is strong demand here for building land, for which we have become the specialists. For a plot of around 1,500 m2, one can expect to pay from 300,000 to 350,000 €.”