Auray, “a town for living”

The historic neighbourhoods of Saint-Goustan, Kerléano and the station rub shoulders with the natural sites of La Petite Forêt and Vallon du Reclus. Particularly popular in the summer season, this town in Le Morbihan with 12,540 inhabitants focuses on commerce, the service sector and arts-and-crafts, while also pursuing its activities in plastics and precision engineering.

Laid out around the muncipal “halles” or market-place, renovated in 1999, the town centre turns out to be very lively. Each week, it accommodates 400 stall-holders. Crossed by the river of the same name, Auray, bordering on Crac’h, Brech and Pluneret, has four zones of activities : Porte Océane, Toul Garros, Kerbois and La Petite Forêt. The port of Saint-Goustan, initially concentrating on coastal trade and opening out to Spain and Great Britain, explains the origins of the town. Fifteen km from the coast, it is today entirely dedicated to pleasure boating.

“Baby-boomers from large cities in search of a resort to use as their main or semi-main residence, often ready to pay high prices in cash, represent 15-20 % of our clientele,” says Jean-Marc Gothard of Laforêt Immob­ilier. They are receptive to the arguments put forward by Auray : a quality life-style, the attractive value-for-money ratio, and favourable weather compared to the rest of Brittany. Prepared to invest from 350,000 to one million euros, seniors could well take a look at this 17th-century building of 150 m2, fully restored, with a small garden and commercial premises, at the heart of town, on offer at 440,000 € or this house of 250 m2 in grounds of 2,000-3,000 m2 facing Le Bono, at around 800,000 €. On the outskirts, Crac’h and La Trinité also have their fans among this type of buyer. Those looking to make long-term investments, convinced of the security of real estate and no longer drawn by financial offerings from the banks, pay from 50,000 € - the amount required for the most modest cabin studio - to 200,000 € - bringing a small apartment building with two or three lots. They usually settle for a gross return of 5.5-6 %. First-time buyers come up against stringent conditions for financing and rarely look at properties beyond 150,000 €. The segment composed of 1- and 2-bedroom apartments is currently under pressure due to high demand and scarce supply. On the other hand, houses priced from 250,000 to 450,000 € are hard to move. It’s a time when people tend to “wait-and-see” or resort to tough bargaining. In the meantime, estate-agents capable of matching properties on their files to buyers’ needs manage to make up for the loss of turnover.

“On the peninsula of Auray, Carnac and La Trinité-sur-Mer form a highly-prized micromarket, with 80-90 % of acquisitions dedicated to holiday homes, “ says Sébastien Kervarec of Guy Hoquet L’Immobilier. “Almost half of our clients come from Paris and its surrounding region, with the area around Rennes also strongly repres­ented.” They are all looking for detached homes close to the sea. Apartments range from 4,000 to 10,000 €/m2, the top end applying to an example on the front row, in excellent condition. A house of 100 m2 with a garden of 500 m2 in Carnac-plage is worth 500,000-550,000 €. In the case of apartments, most transactions are around 200,000 €, whereas most of the activity for houses lies between 400,000 and 500,000 €. Prices remain stable and over-pricing is a thing of the past. Correctly estimated, properties sell within a reasonable length of time. Among his last three sales, Sébastien Kerverac cites a 2-bedroom apartment of 50 m2 with a garden of 150 m2, acquired by a Parisian executive for 322,000 € ; another of 39 m2, just 200 metres from the Carnac beaches, bought by a couple from Rennes for 189,000 €, happy to enjoy this second home a 75-minute drive from their main resid­ence ; and a house of 198 m2 in grounds of 2,000 m2, five minutes from the beaches, priced at 600,000 € and suiting the needs of a Parisian for holidays.

“Figures recorded over the last two months show that transactions in Auray range from 60,000 to 450,000 €, with the majority below the barrier of 300,000 €. However, half of the properties proposed on our files are priced beyond that level, indicating the gap between supply and demand,” comments Catherine Fournier of Orpi Immobilier Fournier. Sandwiched between two rivers, the generous and luxuriant accommod­ation offered by Crac’h, combined with first-class amenities, is be­coming more and more popular. Carnac, La Trinité and Quiberon fall into this same category : they propose a similar life-style at comparable prices, and are joined by Saint-Philibert. 30 % of potential clients come from the west side of France, over 40 % from the Paris region. A residence in good condition not far from the beaches ranges from 4,000 to 6,000 €/m2, an apartment from 3,600 to 5,500 €/m2, except for those on the seafront, starting from about 6,500 €/m2. The main challenge for estate agencies is to get the owners to accept the estimates they provide. Certainly motiv­ated by personal enjoyment, buyers never lose sight of the notion of a sound long-term asset. Two of them recently paid 590,000 and 660,000 € respect­ively for a house of 118 m2 built in 2010 with a garden of 400 m2, and a new residence of 150 m2 with a garden of 500 m2, just 200 metres from the sea.

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