The southern Luberon, an area highly-prized by residents of Aix

Located at the extreme south-east of the Vaucluse between the Luberon and the plain of the Durance, this region has 22 villages with a total of some 53,000 inhabitants. Part of the Regional Nature Park, it ends where the Alpes-de-Haute Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône and the Var begin. Lourmarin is the gem in its crown.

A distinction has to be drawn between the gateways to the Luberon (Cadenet, Cucuron, Lauris, Lourmarin, Puget, Puyvert and Vaugines) and the Luberon-Durance “community of communes” (Ansouis, La Bastide-des-Jourdans, La Bastidonne, Beaumont-de-Pertuis, Cabrières-d’Aigues, Grambois, Mirabeau, La Motte-d’Aigues, Peypin d’Aigues, Saint-Martin-de-la-Brasque, Sannes, La Tour-d’Aigues and Vitrolles) and the “Pays d’Aix” (Pertuis). In itself alone, this last address is home to close on 20,300 people. With the infrastructures of a real town, it forms a crossroads between the Aix-Forcalquier road (running north-south) and that of Manosque-Cavaillon (east-west). Surrounded by hills and mountains, including that of Le Luberon, Lourmarin is one of the region’s main tourist destinations. Lauris is just nearby, on a rocky spur overlooking the Durance River, while on the other side La Tour-d’Aigues, appreciated for its junior and intermediate schools, banks and local shops, gives priority to vineyards.

“The southern part of the Luberon owes its relatively high property prices to the short distance separating it from Aix-en-Provence, the TGV station, 40 minutes away, and the Marseille-Marignane airport, a 50-minute drive,” explains Marie-Christine Valette of the Agence Bonpré. Most purchasers are looking for year-round homes. Retirees, either French or foreign, can generally afford to pay over 500,000 €. German clients have just invested 588,000 € in a villa of 140 m2 with high-end appointments and grounds of 1,100 m2 located in Cadenet. A diplomat paid 650,000 € for a house of 190 m2 in grounds of 2,000 m2 in a hamlet. Engineers working in Cadarache, capable of raising 500,000- 700,000 €, are also interested in the area as it only takes a 20-minute drive to reach their workplace. First-time buyers spend 150,000-230,000 € on village houses. The region sometimes inspires some radical life changes. Recently, a couple acquired a “mas” of 306 m2 in grounds of 3,000 m2 in Grambois for 750,000 €, intending to turn it into a guest-house. Some buyers even turn up from Marseilles, a 35 minute drive away. A young couple working part-time in the capital of the Bouches-du-Rhône paid 430,000 € for a home of 140 m2 with grounds of 2,400 m2 enjoying a magnificent view, near La Bastidonne. Less than a quarter of the buyers are looking solely for holiday homes, with budgets ranging from 500,000 to 750,000 €. The so-called “prestige” sector is probably less widely represented here than in the Gordes-Ménerbes-Bonnieux triangle. On the other hand, the middle of the range may well be more expensive in the south, which offers several pools of employment. The area consists of a series of micro-markets : “La Bastide-des-Jourdans, although autonomous and pleasant to live in, is generally considered to be off the beat-en track. Then comes Grambois, but especially La Tour-d’Aigues. Four km from Pertuis, this locality is very convenient. Its only downside is the lack of available properties. Ansouis and Cucuron are both lovely villages, though Lourmarin is still the star-player.” Between the least and most expensive addresses, Marie-Christine Valette notes that price differences can reach 50 %, even though they all lie within a radius of 40 km.

”Many people working in Aix, with budgets from 250,000 and 300,000 €, opt to live in the country, synonymous with spaciousness and a quality life-style,” says Michèle Catier of the Agence Catier. “Moreover, the holiday home is rarely a goal in itself, but often a transitional stage before retirement when the owner can settle permanently in the Luberon Regional Nature Park.” In contrast, interest on the part of foreigners has fallen sharply. Despite claims that the crisis is coming to an end, the market is still rather bumpy and no longer reflects any logic in terms of periods of activity, now spread over a much longer time than in the past. However, prices are stable and wisely-estimated properties sell without too much difficulty. Very close to Lourmarin, Lauris benefits from a clientele confronted by the lack of available properties in its fashionable neighbour. The village house, ranging from 150,000 to 300,000 €, is seeing a certain loss of interest in favour of recent detached houses of 150-200 m2 with gardens of at least 1,000 m2, priced from 400,000 to 600,000 €, depending on their appointments. A restored “mas” costs over 1 million euros. And, finally, the proportion of old buildings in need of renovation has been reduced to a trickle.

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