The market is getting back on to its feet


Catharism appeared in the 12th century. It was fiercely attacked by the Catholic church, which considered it as heresy. The medieval city of Carcassonne, now perfectly preserved, became a hotbed of resistance. While some historians have quite a few reasons to argue with the region’s designation as the Land of the Cathars, the label, combined with classification of the Canal du Midi and City of Carcassonne as part of UNESCO’s World Heritage (in 1996 and 1997), has largely contributed to the success of tourism in the Aude. In 2005, the authorities reported 17 million hotel-nights, 5,800 direct jobs and 9,500 seasonal jobs. Along the region’s 47 km of Mediterranean coastline, in Leucate, Gruissan, Fleury, Port-la-Nouvelle and Belcaire, holiday homes largely outstrip year-round residences. Even in Narbonne, the second largest population area in the “département 11”, holiday homes account for almost 17 % of total accommodation. One kind of picture-postcard scenery replaces the other : “garrigue” and “maquis” scrubland succeed lakes before giving way to agricultural plains and mountains covered with beech and oak trees. Two motorways cross the area : the A61 towards Toulouse and the A9 which connects Montpellier with Spain. One third of the region’s 339,000 residents are shared out between Carcassonne and Narbonne, the rest share the space, finally with very little built-up areas compared with the national average. Despite its ups-and-downs, wine production, both complicated and volatile, is still an important economic activity. Arts and crafts account for 15 % of the workforce. Industry is to be found around the port of Narbonne and in Limoux, home to a brick factory. Finally, the region is proud of its 113 wind turbines producing electricity consumed by 100,000 residents.

“The “Pays Cathare” consists of several different areas : Le Lauragais, Le Narbonnais, Les Corbières, Le Minervois and Le Carcassonnais…” explains Sylvie Péronne of the AS Péronne agency. About 40 kilometres from Toulouse, Le Lauragais, not content with housing employees of the garrisons, also accommodates people working in the “Pink City”. Le Narbonnais is home to the seaside resorts of the Aude and a majority of holiday residents : the same is true of La Haute Vallée which focusses more, however, on mid-mountain tourism. Known for its wine, Le Minervois became very popular a few years ago among the British, keen to renovate the famous “vigneronnes” or vintners’ residences. Often obliged to come up with cash, the vintners would sell off part of their land. Once renovated, the British benefit from their properties in winter and rent them out in the summer season. Others, hit by the crunch and forced to find liquid assets in a hurry, are selling out. Le Carcassonnais, lying around the Prefecture, makes its living from public services, the army, service sector and even the airport, which boasts five year-round connections with Belgium, England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany. All segments combined, property prices in Le Carcassonnais average around 1,600 €/m2 versus almost 2,000 €/m2 in Le Narbonnais. A difference justified quite simply by the proximity of the Deep Blue Sea. In 2009, 52 % of transactions registered by AS Péronne concerned buyers from outside the region, including 32 % of retirees, 10 % of Europeans in search of holiday homes and employees transferred from other places. After a worrying period in the fourth quarter of 2008, the market got back on its feet. Sylvie Péronne says that prices fell 15-20 % and it took longer to finalize transactions. “Nonetheless, interest in the region is real and clients who were unable to afford homes in 2007 re-appeared in the agencies. Now, from 140,000 €, they can acquire a house of 90 to 100 m2 in need of a lick of paint, with a garden of 200 to 300 m2, in Le Carcassonnais.

“At the crossroads of the main highways connecting the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, the Massif Central to Spain, at the heart of the Montpellier-Toulouse-Barcelona triangle, largely facing the sea, the “Pays Cathare” is welcoming fewer foreigners than in the past,” notes Ghislaine Gabarrou of Varsovie Immobilier. “On the other hand, first-time buyers are back in force.” Many take the leap because of rising rents, a trend that is not likely to be reversed when one considers the very healthy rental market. Young couples invest from 80,000 to 150,000 € in an apartment, a village house or a small house on an estate. Senior citizens also appreciate the region. Some dream of a family residence, a place for quiet and enjoyable get-togethers. Ghislaine Gabarrou mentions the recent sale of a house of 170 m2 with a garden of 400 m2 on the Plateau Lacombe overlooking the old City of Carcassonne for 235,000 €, a villa of 110 m2 in good condition near the Montagne Noire for 158,000 €, and a home of 140 m2 in a village near Le Minervois, refurbished as new and with a garden of 500 m2, for 205,000 €. Some buyers, tired of the hectic life in large cities or wanting to try their hand at the Bed & Breakfast adventure, invest 350,000 to 600,000 € in a stone building or a property of character set in several acres of land. Quality and comfort are recurrent criteria. Supply and demand are balancing out, banks are once again more forthcoming. It still remains to reduce the unfortunate gap between the prices displayed and actually paid. Even if Sylvie Péronne regrets the economic poverty of the Aude, she remains optimistic : “A region like this in the South of France, between sea and mountains, should not fail to assert itself as a sound value for the future”.