Léon and Vielle-Saint-Girons

Lying between lake and ocean, these two resorts in the Landes promise quiet family vacations combining the pleasures of sport and lots of rest in the most beautiful forest in Europe. Our experts comment on this trip to the heart of the nature reserve of Le Courant d’Huchet...

Cordial and picturesque, Léon, often inseparable from Saint-Michel-Escalus, has 1,700 inhabitants and a sufficient number of shops and services. In summer, the market is lively every day. It is also during this period that this “green resort” offers the most possibilities. In addition to hiking and horseback riding, visitors enjoy the lake, swimming, fishing and water sports. Located in Le Marensin, Vielle-Saint-Girons is comprised of two separate villages and beaches with fresh and salt water. The ocean in fact appears at the end of a winding road 5 km long starting from Saint-Girons, a community boasting one of the oldest churches in the region. With branches in Castets and Lesperon, the company DRT (Dérivés Résiniques et Terpéniques) also runs a site in this area. Over towards the lake, Vielle has a water tower, sports stadium and 15 km of biking paths that run through the town. The return of warm summer days sees late-night markets, folk performances, concerts and a gastronomy fair.

“The “Réserve d’Huchet” is the main feature in Léon, which also benefits from a good array of lively commercial enterprises and associations, sports facilit-ies, a cinema and a cultural centre,” describes Myriam Lallemand of the Agence des Pins. Unlike Vielle and Saint-Girons Plage, Léon is lively year round, thus distinguishing itself from other towns on the Landes coast. Young children have an on-site junior school, while older ones travel to the intermediate school in Linxe, a 10-minute drive, and secondary school students are catered for in Dax, 30 km away. Which explains why buyers of permanent residences still outnumber those looking for holiday homes. They pay around 250,000 € for a 3-bedroom house in grounds of 1,000 to 1,200 m2, while the few building plots that arise from a property being split up cost around 100,000-110,000 €. More practical for clients who are buying in anticipation of retirement, the turnkey home is definitly popular, even if a lick of paint or work to ensure that the property meets standards often prove necessary. Following a decline in prices, activity finally seems to be picking up.

“These addresses are also suffering much less than others further inland,” notes Grégory Genevois. “The 5 % decline in values is more of a soft landing than a market collapse.” Nevertheless, 2009 will be remembered as a tough year for estate agencies. Foncia LVA has come up with a solution : membership of a national network, especially as most buyers come from other parts of France. Even today, the holiday home sector has not gotten back into its stride and is mainly concerned with small units offered below 170,000 €. Recognizing some signs of recovery, Grégory Genevois has high hopes of 2010, even if he regrets the locality’s ineligibility for Scellier tax benefits. Léon has an excellent reputation and quality housing that should certainly not leave occasional residents with high purchasing power indifferent.

“Vielle has a clear vocation for holiday homes, focusing on the lake and outdoor activities, and a slight head-start on Saint-Girons, with its industrial plant,” says Pierre-Jean Quillacq of the Agence des Dunes. Interested parties are looking for space, quiet, luxuriant surroundings, not far from the water. They are French, mostly from “départements” located less than two hours away such as Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Charente, Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne and Haute-Garonne. They make more and more trips throughout the year and regularly rent out their properties for part of the summer. In Vielle, they target furnished terraced houses (or “patio villas”) of 35 m2 with terraces or small gardens, costing 90,000 €, detached houses of 100 m2 (three bedrooms) in grounds of 1,000 m2, from 200,000 to 220,000 € depending on appointments, or homes in the Résidence du Lac, an estate built in 1970, two kilometres from the lake - with living space of 150 m2 and gardens of 1,500-2,000 m2 - priced, barring exceptions, from 280,000 to 300,000 €. Parallel to the ocean, the road to Huchet runs through the forest to Moliets, a geographical particularity that weighs in the balance when trying to choose between the two towns. On the other hand, the locals prefer Saint-Girons, where homes of 90 m2 in good condition with gardens of 1,000 m2 are selling on average at 150,000 €. Whatever the post code, only properties which have been correctly valued will find buyers.