Between the Atlantic and the Pyrenees, the southern part of the Gironde offers varied scenery composed of forests, vines, fortified villages, Clementine castles, countryhouses, houses inspired by those of the Landes or Gironde. One has hardly crossed the boundary of the Urban Community of Bordeaux when nature takes over once again, the best guarantee of a quality life-style.

Guillaume Jambard of Cible Immobilier ditinguishes two main zones, themselves subdivided into different population areas. The southern Gironde on the UBC side is a densely populated region, developed since the 1930’s to the present day. Individual houses already win out over blocks of apartments. Infrastructures are numerous and public transport very well-organized. Land and residents’ taxes are high at Pessac, Bègles, Villenave-d’Ornon, a town at the gateway to Bordeaux, Talence, home to the university faculties, and Gradignan, undoubtedly the most select commune in the “département”. Overall, the typical home of 130 m2 in good condition with a garden of 1,000-1,500 m2 changes hands at around 2,700-2,800 €/m2. Benefitting from larger grounds, a pool, double garage, prime building materials, contemporary kitchens and bathrooms, it will fetch from 3,000 to 4,000 €/m2. Apartment buildings on five to six floors, well-finished with gardens, garages and parking places, are of interest to first-time buyers and single parent families, ready to spend 2,000-2,500 €/m2. On leaving the Urban Community, one finds three sub-groups. Les Graves - ie. the canton of La Brède, Leognan, Castres-Gironde, Beautiran, Ayguemorte-les-Graves and Portets - all lie within a radius of 10 km. The immense advantage offered by this area resides in the excellent reputation of its educational establishments and the proximity of the very fluid A62 motorway, linking the capital of “département 33” to Toulouse. If we apply the same criteria, the price per sq. metre falls to 2,300-2,700 € here, even though accompanied by much larger grounds. Between Portets and Langon, nature takes over, dotted with stone houses, in rural settings or little villages. Built on several floors, they content themselves with small gardens. At 1,500-1,800 €/m2, they share the area with single-storey contemporary houses, marketed at 1,800-2,200 €/m2. Sparsely populated, Le Bazadais is less practical for everyday life, except on the outskirts of Langon or Bazas. German and Dutch clients appreciate Girondine houses of 140 to 200 m2, giving onto outdoor spaces of 3,000-6,000 m2 and priced from 1,800 to 2,000 €/m2.
“If Langon, situated to the north of the Landes forest and south of the valley of the Garonne, acts as a pole of attraction, purchasers end up opting for villages in the surrounding area,” says Catherine Blanchard of L’Adret Immobilier. “The sub-Prefecture of the Gironde, a real strategic crossroads between Bordeaux, Toulouse and Pau, is home to 700 companies and no less than 192.5 acres of activity zones. Components for the Airbus A380 in fact have to cross it, after a trip on the river and prior to their assembly in the “Ville Rose”.” Senior citizens from the region around Paris thus fall beneath the charm of Bazas, 15 km from Langon. This former episcopal city, visited by Richard the Lionheart, Charles V and Louis XIV, is not lacking in qualities, starting with the Gothic Cathedral, listed as an Historic Monument in 1840, but also, from a more pragmatic point of view, the hospital and secondary schools. In addition to its wood industry and the production of metal, foodstuffs and ceramics, the locality is known for a breed of cattle called “bazadaise”. For under 300,000 €, retirees can acquire a lovely contemporary house of 200 m2 with grounds of 3,000-4,000 m2 and a pool, a commodity which soon outweighs an authentic old building which is finally not well-sited to their life-style. Forming the majority of buyers, young couples employed either locally or in Bordeaux, invest 200,000 € in a 3-bedroomed home with a study and a quiet garden of at least 2,000 m2. The middle-of-the-range seems to be struggling. Forty and fifty year-olds buying their second or third home, a well-informed and highly demanding category of clients, are in fact looking for real bargains and make totally unacceptable offers. Since the introduction of the dual 0 % loan, building plots have their fans as long as they do not exceed 50,000 €, a sum for which one can expect noise or other drawbacks. As for the top end of the market, it is still doing well. Motorway entrances at Bazas and Captieux and the planned TGV station contribute to the area’s growing popularity. “Particularly sensitive to what they hear in the media, clients reacted positively in September, just as they had battened down all the hatches when the crisis was announced in the autumn of 2008,” notes Catherine Blanchard. Guillaume Jambard admits to a certain optimism : “Enquiries and visits are frequent, and buyers are interested. But not at any price”.