Annecy, mixed offerings
Radia Amar - 13 April 2016
Nicknamed “the Venice of the Alps” thanks to the canals running through the Old Town, Annecy benefits from a privileged location between the lake and the Massif des Bornes and Massif des Bauges. With a population of 53,000, the commune pursues lively activity shared out on the industrial, tourist, university and cultural scenes.
Standing on the shores of the lake which bears its name, in the northern French Alps, 50 km north of Chambéry and 40 km south of Geneva, Annecy is split into two parts distinguished by their relief, urbanization and vegetation. With three interchanges on the motorway linking Grenoble to Geneva and Lyon in Chamonix, the town, also crossed by the railway line, lies at the heart of an important traffic hub. A large part of the town centre and Old Town is comprised of streets which became pedestrian in 1973. The liveliest roads include Rue Sainte-Claire, Rue Carnot and Rue Royale. Annecy has about 30,000 homes, mostly occupied year-round.
Located close to the train station on Avenue Berthollet since the end of 2014, the Orpi Actimmo agency specializes in the area encompassing the neighbourhood of Les Romains, the Boulevard du Fier and Avenue de Genève. “Activity mainly revolves around homes for the locally employed with budgets ranging from 150,000 € for an apartment with 1 main room to 350,000 € for a 3 bedroomed apartment. This year, the market is proving to be increasingly well-balanced,” says agency manager Jean-Louis Spiller. Buyers benefit from a wide choice of apartments in residences mostly built in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Offering a full range of the shops and amenities required for a pleasant day-to-day life, this area enjoys a good reputation. The most sought-after property is a 1- or 2 bedroomed apartment with a terrace, garage and cellar, ideally in a residence with a lift. “The number of properties meeting all these criteria is limited,” says Jean-Lous Spiller. Even rarer, houses in the guise of small “pavillons” are priced from 350,000 € to 450,000 € in this neighbourhood.
Throughout the commune, all kinds of properties can be found, and those described as unusual or atypical, offering generous volumes, draw lots of interest from a clientele of discerning taste. “You come across a wide variety of atypical properties in Annecy,” says Clarisse Morin of the Espaces Atypiques agency. “Ultra-contemporary renovations in the Old Town, houses designed by architects and even hidden industrial lofts : there are quite a few different styles.” By way of example, she mentions a property of 150 m2 in loft style, on two floors, with a terrace and patio, in a former industrial building close to the town centre. These exceptional properties can easily exceed 1 million euros.