Town houses in Perpignan

The most recent survey on this lovely Catalan town, home to 118,220 residents intra-muros, showed that it ranked third in France in terms of population growth just after Montpellier and Toulouse. Houses in urban areas offer an ideal compromise between detached villas and convenient apartments. Spotlight on a segment widely represented in the capital of the eastern Pyrenees.

Situated between the Pyrenees, Les Corbières and the Mediterranean, the Prefecture of “département 66” has continued to expand over the centuries, absorbing areas such as Le Vernet, La Patte d’Oie and Saint-Gaudérique. Both eclectic and harmonious, its architecture is further embellished by a backcloth composed of the magnificent scenery afforded by Le Pic du Canigou and Les Albères, forming natural frontiers with Spain.

“In Perpignan, there’s no lack of neighbourhoods offering so-called town houses,” says Marie-Christine Colombié of Avenir Immobilier. Parallel to Boulevard Aristide-Briand, Le Vélodrome proves to be very pleasant and much quieter than Place Cassagne or Saint-Jacques. Fans of detached houses will find small charming properties of about 100 m2 built in the 1930’s, prolonged by small gardens, ranging from 165,000 to 220,000 €. Le Balcon enjoys an elevated position, even if those wanting plunging views are well advised to opt for Les Aviateurs, a neighbourhood on the outskirts, of more recent construction. Prices for houses built in the ’fifties are comparable. Like the first, they offer high ceilings and red Provençal floor tiles. Unfortunately, a layout with a garage on the ground floor and an upstairs lounge does not meet today’s requirements : buyers now prefer single-storey homes with direct access to the garden. A demand which is met by 1960’s houses in the highly-prized areas of Les Impôts and Le Palais des Congrès, priced from 250,000 to 400,000 €. One such ex-ample, with tastefully renovated living space of 150 m2, over towards the railway station, is on offer at 350,000 €. This type of house attracts working couples with children, looking for proximity to amenities. Deeply attached to city life, these families dream of independence and a certain prestige but do not want to move far from their workplaces, schools, shops and other amenities. On the other hand, they are not looking for large grounds requiring too much maintenance. Often overpriced, this market for independent houses is finding it hard to get going again, especially if the property needs refurbishing, whereas apartments with clearly reduced prices are doing well. Prices for town houses sometimes match those asked for villas in the country, though there’s not much competition as they each draw a clientele with opposing aspirations.

“There’s no doubt that attractive bourgeois buldings in the Palais des Congrès neighbourhood, originally built by wealthy tradesmen and only a 3-minute walk from the hyper centre, are likely to meet these various criteria. But, in terms of both price and appointments, they already stand out from classic town houses,” explains Jean-Paul Rigaud of JP Rigaud Immobilier. French retirees, the other category apparently showing an interest in such homes, insist almost systematically on a bedroom and bathroom in addition to a lounge and kitchen on the ground floor, a rare commodity given the history of this type of property. And refurbishment in keeping with tradition unfortunately proves to be too costly, unless one pays between 1,700 and 2,000 €/m2 for the existing property, depending on its condition and location, as compared with 1,500 €/m2, the price for equivalent accommodation in an apartment. It is, in fact, for this reason that activity is more sustained in neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Perpignan, developed from the ’seventies onwards.