A home in Anglet

Partly covered by pine-trees, this town in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques has 37,650 inhabitants. A stretch of sand starting 200 km to the north ends in Anglet, boasting a coastline 4.5 kilometres long and no less than eleven beaches. On this large and airy commune, houses reign supreme.

Steeped in both Basque and Gascon culture, the epicenter of the greater urban area of Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz serves as a junction between the ocean and the River Adour. It accommodates 75 % of the airport and the University of Sciences of Montaury, a site undergoing rapid expansion. The economy relies on tourism, thalassotherapy, aeronautics, surfing and the agri-food industry. In 2007, the delightful town won four flowers in the competition for flowery towns and villages. The same year, the Ecological Park Izadia was opened in the area of La Barre.

“Anglet enjoys a strategic location between Biarritz and Bayonne. While purchasers setting their sights on Bayonne or Barritz categorically refuse to reverse their choice, they all agree to visit Anglet,” claim Dominique Duaso, Olivia Leprovost and Carole Sassower of Square Habitat. Close to the beaches and golf-course, Chiberta, nestling in a pine forest, has many fans. On the front row, a rare commodity, a villa of 150-200 m2 in grounds of 800-1,000 m2 costs between 1.8 and 2 million euros. Without a sea view, a renovated property generally revolves around 1 million euros. Recently, a house of 85 m2 awaiting restoration in grounds of 700 m2, a rather unusual example here, found a buyer at 390,000 €. Very commercial and more mixed in terms of the type of housing, Les Cinq Cantons draw considerable demand confronted by a severe shortage of offerings. In satisfactory condition, a house with 3/4 main rooms costs about 600,000 €. Between Bayonne and Chiberta, not far from the Atlantic, even though one needs a car to get there, Blanc-Pignon offers homes built in the ’fities or ’sixties. With a budget of 500,000 €, a buyer can expect a generous garden. The centre, laid out around the town-hall, attracts seniors looking for convenience and all amenities within walking distance. Here, the term “townhouse” is inappropriate. Unlike Biarritz and Bayonne, Anglet enjoys a highly decentralized urban area. Houses are thus routinely accompanied by more or less substantial grounds. The price-bracket, comparable to that of Blanc-Pignon, starts at around 450,000 €. “At the gateway to Biarritz while remaining close to Les Cinq Cantons, Chassin, again offering the same price range, enjoys a certain aura radiating out from the capital of windsurfing,” explains Christophe del Valle of the agency Terres du Sud Immobilier. Finally, La Chambre d’Amour owes its higher ranking and prices slightly below those posted by Chiberta to its coastline.

“The clientele for houses consists 50 % of locals, who can invest 500,000-700,000 €,” says Anne Lasserre of Biarritz Golf Immobilier. She admits that it is occasionally hard to meet their requirements due to a lack of quality properties. “Theoretically, when one pays 500,000 €, one needs to invest another 100,00 € in refurbishment, a factor not always taken into account.” The other 50 % come from the Ile-de-France or the Côte d’Azur with financing capacities ranging from 800,000 to 1.5 million euros. One-fifth settle in Anglet year-round, very happy to enjoy the pleasant life style offered by the Basque Country. Our estate agent mentions the recent sale of a property of 280 m2 with tasteful appointments, in grounds of 1,300 m2 with a swimming pool near the golf-course, for 1.5 million euros, and another of 120 m2 with a garden of 700 m2 at the top end of Chiberta, for 800,000 €.

“Knowledgeable about the market and particularly demanding, the potential buyer is no longer willing to pay over the odds,” resumes Christophe del Valle. More expensive than Bayonne, Anglet can be seen as a really sound value for the future, especially as its housing stock is gradually getting a facelift and its neighbour Biarritz is reaching saturation. For a typical property priced at 1 million euros, the difference between the two addresses in the BAB region can attain 20 %. Without any new developments on the horizon, old houses have no competition. After a logical correction, with the coast suffering less than the inland area, activity seems to be quietly picking up.