La Vallée Verte, main and second homes

By Cécile Olivéro - 14 June 2013

Near Switzerland and Thonon-les-Bains in Upper Savoy, the “Green Valley” attracts people working across the border who are prepared to drive a few more kilometres to benefit from a setting worthy of a picture-postcard.

About 30 km from Geneva on the A40, an hour’s drive from Chamonix, about 20 minutes from Annemasse, 40 minutes from Annecy, Les Gets and Morzine, this valley in Le Haut-Chablais offers its residents high-quality living conditions. It is made up of eight communes ranging from 650 to 1,100 m in altitude : Boëge, the main town, Bogève, Burdignin, Habère-Poche, Habère-Lullin, Saint-André-de-Boëge, Saxel and Villard. “We have seen a real change in the market,” says Daniel Tingaud of L’Immobilière des Vallées. “Second residences, historically mostly chalets belonging to Swiss owners, were sold a few years ago, when the market still allowed sellers to obtain interesting capital gains.” Today, the locally employed are finding it hard to become home-owners. Daniel Tingaud mentions the role of price orientation which should be played by estate-agents. The market for new homes is limited, and scarce building plots soon find takers ; serviced lots range from 70 to 150 € per sq. metre. In the autumn, Villard will see a new development of apartments rise from the ground, whose prices have been set at 2,600 € per sq. metre. In Habère-Poche, at the heart of the village, construction of a small development of seven homes has begun ; “Les Montagnettes”, signed Vallée Verte Immobilier, will offer living space of approx. 60 m2 each with parking places and cellars, priced from 3,000 to 3,300 €/m2. “Currently buyers investing in either main or holiday homes have a choice,” comments Sébastien Belliot of Vallée Verte Immobilier. “In the Vallée Verte, everyone can find a suitable home and a privileged lifestyle.” Even so, what’s on offer does not always meet with demand. Demand amounting to about 250,000 €, whereas offers easily attain 350,000 €. It’s therefore hard for the locally employed to acquire a property. On the other hand, “frontaliers” who work in Switzerland and invest in France get a good deal. They have the means to treat themselves to detached houses, chalets or renovated farmhouses offering generous living space in extensive grounds, at prices ranging from 300,000 to 600,000 € or more. Holiday homes come in all shapes and sizes, from studios to chalets ; for as little as 35,000 € to 70,000 €, one can become the happy owner of a small pied-à-terre in the Vallée Verte.

The rental market is also rather tense, with demand always outstripping supply. Comprising the majority in this sector, local workers pay on average 300 € per month for a studio, 600 € for a 1-bedroom apartment, 700 to 800 € for a 2-bedroom apartment and up to 1,300 € per month for a chalet of 100 m2. As for seasonal rentals, one can expect to pay 300 € per week for accommodation sleeping 4, and 900 € per week to sleep 10 to 12 people. Lying parallel to Lake Geneva, oriented north-south, the Vallée Verte has many assets up its sleeve, including family winter sports resorts, all the necessary amenities, especially in Boëge, and beautifully preserved nature.