Le Gard and its lovely villages
By Laetitia Rossi - 07 March 2012
Between the Rhône, L’Ardèche, Le Gardon and the limestone plateaux bordering the Cévennes, this region with a rich array of both job pools and tourist sites makes the art of living an everyday occurrence. Depending from an administrative point of view on Le Gard, it winds its way along the Rhône.
“Le Gard rhodanien” (ie. close to the River Rhône) offers lots of localities on a human scale, some of which rank among the most beautiful villages in France. Starting with Aiguèze and La Roque-sur-Cèze. On the right bank of the Rhône, Roquemaure is home to about 5,450 people. The wine produced here is as renowned as the AOC olive-oil. A 15-minute drive takes you to Avignon, Orange or Bagnols-sur-Cèze. Close to the A9 and A7 motorway exits, this attractive little town has shops, primary and intermediate schools. Pont-Saint-Esprit with its 10,230 residents owes its development to the building of a bridge over the Rhône, back in the Middle Ages, below the confluence with the River Ardèche. Not far from the Drôme, this address lies on the border between three “départements”, Le Gard, L’Ardèche and Le Vaucluse, and three regions, Rhône-Alpes, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur. As well as the medieval bridge, featuring 25 girders and 919 metres long, the commune boasts several religious buildings, chapels, the priory and church of Saint-Pierre. Villeneuve-lès-Avignon benefits from easy access, not far from the TGV station. This “Town of Art” with several listed sites and monuments, including the old town centre, has “all the qualities required to capture economic, social and tourist flows”. Within the past 15 years, it has drawn 2,190 additional inhabitants, bringing the total number to 12,098. 29.4 % of its actively employed residents work on site, 47.1 % in Avignon.
“Roquemaure appeals to home-seekers working in the capital of the Vaucluse who, for the same price, can treat themselves to an outdoor area worthy of the name,” says Virginie Frenoux of the Ommimmo agency. The slight rise in mortgage rates and especially the disappearance of the PTZ loan for older housing have resulted in less demand, at least for the time being, from first-time buyers. This clientele nevertheless accounts for over half of the total sales, with most transactions remaining under the bar of 350,000 €, a sum corresponding to a villa of 140 m2 with contemporary appointments and a garden of 1,000 m2. The most modest house of 90 m2 with a garden of 400 m2 starts at 180,000 €. Virginie Frenoux receives a few enquiries for more expensive properties from clients in the region around Paris, northern France or even Belgium. A stone “mas” of 280 m2 in grounds of 8,800 m2, priced at 535,000 €, is currently drawing a lot of interest from well-off locals, Belgians and Parisians with a fondness for old stone. They all appreciate the country atmosphere, within easy reach of towns and motorways.
“Pont-Saint-Esprit is 9 km from the motorway and about 5 minutes from the entrance to the Gorges of the Ardèche,” says Catherine Chantry of Pont Immobilier. “It produces high-quality wines, the job market is active and the museum of sacred art brings lots of visitors. Every Saturday, the market is in full swing.” Ready to pay up to 220,000 €, 80 % of buyers here are looking for their main homes. The upper end of the price bracket brings a “pavillon” of 100 m2 with a garden of 500 m2, while young couples and seniors set their sights on 1- or 2-bedroom apartments in the centre, ranging from 80,000 to 150,000 €. There is steady demand for holiday homes, especially from the English, with a wide range of prices, from 100,000 to 1 million euros. Catherine Chantry mentions the recent sale of a “mas” of 200 m2 for 418,000 € in grounds of 1,800 m2 in the centre of Pont-Saint-Esprit.
“Villeneuve-lès-Avignon is the chic and countrified suburb of the prefecture of the Vaucluse. It’s a very pleasant place to live. The only disturbance is the occasional noise from freight trains,” says Laurent Mottet of Guy Hoquet L’Immobilier. Here, demand outstrips supply. Unfortunately, there is a chronic gap between what clients are looking for and the type of homes on offer. Most enquiries concern properties up to 250,000 €. A first-time buyer just paid 260,000 € for a home of 115 m2 on the border between Villeneuve and the shopping area of Les Angles. Most of the stock consists of properties between 350,000 and 550,000 €. Once beyond this middle range, which is not very active, interest focuses on the bracket above 500,000 €. For example, a house of 190 m2 with a garden of 1,000 m2 and above-ground pool sold for 600,000 € after being on the agency’s files for only 25 days, and a building plot of 2,200 m2 on a gated estate on the hills overlooking the plain and Fort Saint-André found a buyer at 500,000 €. The scarcity of building land naturally explains the high prices. As soon as a plot, of whatever size, seems to be correctly priced, it finds a taker very rapidly. The past few months have seen a lot of private investors looking for properties to renovate and then re-sell. While this trend testifies to the appeal of property investment versus savings in the bank, it nevertheless comes up against a market where current offerings fail to meet buyers’ demands.