Le Pradet, a highly-prized seafront

This commune in the Var is home to 11,500 inhabitants 8 km from the pref­ecture of département 83, 10 km from Hyères and 72 km from Marseille. It opens out to the bay of Toulon, while the coast comprised of cliffs leaves room for creeks and beaches beneath clumps of oak-trees, pines, mimosa and maquis.

With Carqueiranne and La Garde as neighbours, Le Pradet proposes beaches such as Le Pin de Galle, Le Monaco, Les Bonnettes, La Garonne and Les Oursinières, where one discovers a small Provençal harbour. Less than 15 km from the Toulon-Hyères airport and 100 km from that of Marseille-Provence, the town is connected to the two communes in the Var by the Départementale 559, while a cycling path marks the junction between the capital of the Var and the seaside resort of Saint-Raphaël. The Mining Museum on Cap Garonne invites visitors to an entertaining discovery of the ancient copper mines which are among the five loveliest mineral sites in the world. The town-hall is housed in the Château du Clos Meunier, and the Parc Cravéro offers shaded pathways and a palm-grove. In 1930, Le Corbusier put his signature to the villa L’Artaude (or Mandrot), listed as an historic monument 57 years later. Finally, the coastal path runs along the creeks of Le Pradet... All features well worth a visit.

“Since January, 2013, transactions handled by the Century 21 Sagittaire Immobilier agency have been shared out equally between villas and apartments,” says Noëlle Livon-Ferrand. “Average prices range from 3,600 to 4,200 €/m2 for detached houses, from 2,300 to 2,700 €/m2 for apartments, or from 3,000 to 4,000 €/m2 as soon as the apartment benefits from a garden or terrace.” Le Pradet offers lots of assets, starting with a lively centre, a harbour, beaches, a cinema, weekly market, a busy cooperative, proximity to shopping centres, the Hyères airport and railway station in Toulon, both just a 20-minute drive away. Appreciative of these advantages, retirees either local or from other French regions set their sights on 3-bedroomed houses, preferably all on one floor, prolonged by gardens of 400-600 m2 and priced from 350,000 to 500,000 €. Senior citizens from outside the region or people moving here to work are usually ready to pay from 180,000 to 220,000 € for an apartment with 3/4 main rooms with a small terrace and a parking place, though they often need a little time to become familiar with market realities. In fact, there is always a difference between the prices posted in their home towns and those in Le Pradet. The address has a few lovely, high-quality residences such as Médicis, which proposes 2-bedroom apartments of 90 m2 from 450,000 €, a price justified by the swimming pool, gardens and generous terraces. Under 500,000 €, activity is satisfactory. Buyers are mainly French, and holiday home-owners do not account for more than 20 % of the market.

“Le Pradet can be split into three main areas : the centre, the beaches and harbour of Les Oursinières, and the countryside bordering on La Garde,” explains Franck Joseph of 4 % Immobilier, backed by almost three decades of experience. The heart of town offers the very important advantage of proximity to shops and services, as well as practicality. Often with low energy performance and deprived of lifts or terraces, 1960’s residences have a limited number of fans. An apartment of 70 m2 to restore can be had for 180,000 €. This type of property, if acquired in 2007, only finds a taker with difficulty unless the owner agrees to sell at a loss. Meanwhile, a 2-bedroom apartment of 70 m2, opening out to a terrace of 17 m2, in an intimate residence with a lift and cellars, close to the centre heading towards the beach of La Garonne, will change hands at 339,000 €. Finally, a 25 year-old semi-detached house of 90 m2 in need of refurbishment, with a garden of 350 m2, will sell for 340,000 €. The beaches naturally offer the most select addresses and consequently post the highest prices. A studio of 22 m2 with a terrace of 17 m2 in a gated resid­ence with a pool and tennis court will be snapped up at 150,000 €. A villa of 180 m2 with a garden of 800 m2, in the same neighbourhood, facing the Mediterranean and within walking distance of the sea (an extremely rare commodity), could well bear a price-tag of 950,000 €. The more rural area on the outskirts of La Garde offers more affordable prices. Here, one can expect to pay 390,000 € for a house of 100 m2 with a garden of 400 m2. The crisis affecting the national economy is illustrated in Le Pradet by tougher bargaining except, perhaps, in the case of exceptional properties.