Neighbouring on Six-Fours-les-Plages, Ollioules, Evenos, Le Beausset, Le Castellet and Bandol, this town to the west of the Var is 12 km from Toulon and 54 km from Marseille. It chalked up strong population growth in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and is now home to over 17,000 residents.

This resort on the Mediterranean shore is as quiet as it is popular. The first signs of human occupation date back to the Age of Antiquity, though the little fishing port had to wait for wider renown until 1933, when German intellectuals fleeing Hitler’s regime began to arrive on the Var coast. Several hundred of them were shared out between Sanary, Bandol and Le Lavandou, before taking refuge in the USA and Switzerland or, for the most unfortunate, ending up in the prison camps. When the seaside resort finally experienced its heyday, these earlier visitors who had survived naturally staged a comeback. Today, Sanary is a very pleasant place to live or stay, offering long walks along the seafront or in the botanical gardens. Fans of swimming and sunbathing head for the beaches of L’Esplanade, Dorée, Portissol, Beaucours, La Gorguette, La Roche Taillée or Le Lido.

“The change in caital gains legislation has resulted in a lot of new properties in our files, a slight drop in prices of about 5 % and a rise in the number of transactions in the fourth quarter of 2011,” notes Magali Four-Garrot of GTI GPI. Accounting for four out of every ten sales handled by this agency, investors pay from 100,000 to 200,000 € for apartments with 1 or 2 main rooms. The sq. metre ranges from 6,000 € for an apartment without a sea view, to 10,000 €, the asking price in the new development La Palmeraie, prized for its terraces and hanging gardens facing the Med. These investments can be rented out for 650-800 € per week in the high season ; leased year-round, they bring in monthly income which is pretty much the same. 30 % of acquisitions then concern main residences. They range from 600,000 to 850,000 €, the sum required for a villa of 140 m2 in a garden of 800 to 1,000 m2, without a sea view and sometimes rather far out. The remaining 30 % consists of holiday homes with price-tags often over 1 million euros. A view of the sea, the existence of 4/5 bedrooms and a contemporary style are on the list of criteria most usually required. Clients are mostly French, from Paris and its surrounding region or the Rhône-Alpes. Carqueiranne serves as a fall-back market, especially for the top end of the scale and properties at the water’s edge. Right now, the agency is negotiating the sale of a house of 180 m2 in need of a revamp, in 3,000 m2 of grounds, benefitting from direct access to the sea and priced at 3.5 million euros. In this particular case, purchasers are focusing more on the location than the charm or appointments offered by the accommodation. All categories combined, the market is active, as evidenced by the very rapid commercialisation of Le Clos de la Garrigue, nine building plots of about 900 m2, ranging from 300,000 to 350,000 €. Due to scarcity, those who want to build their own homes are obliged to opt for this type of subdivision. Equally successful are seasonal rentals : posting an occupancy rate of virtually 100 %, desirable villas can be rented out from 5,000 to 7,000 € per week in summer.

With a range of properties on their files, Charles Tardy and Grégory Dray of Charles Immobilier Partenaires can also propose homes meeting the requirements of potential buyers as per a specific list of criteria. Among the latest transactions orchestrated by the agency, they mention a recent house of 100 m2, all on one level, opening out to a garden of 550 m2 with a pool, that a couple of pre-retirees giving priority to quiet and practicality acquired for 550,000 €. Then a Belgian client working in the Congo has just bought a 1930’s residence of 170 m2 in Portissol for 2,350,000 €, with grounds of 1,470 m2 overlooking the sea. In return for a panoramic view and first-class architectural design, he agreed to take on renovation. Finally, a couple of seniors from Amiens paid 780,000 € for a house of 190 m2 in grounds of 2,000 m2, also with a pool. One finds a clear disparity between the highly-prized harbour and town centre, and, on the other hand, peripheral neighbourhoods requiring everyday use of a car. The slightest annoyance will see that a property stays longer in the files. An idyllic location without any major defects immediately captures the attention of an international clientele, prepared to pay 1.5 million euros and more. For individual houses, the majority of sales range from 400,000 to 600,000 €. Transactions in the 600,000 to 1 million euro bracket are rarer. From 1.2 million euros, there is steadier demand. The difficulty lies in equating this type of demand with the existing supply. The “neo-Provençal” villa is definitely falling out of favour. It is, in fact, not rare to see them demolished. Further proof that “location, location” is still the main priority.