Real estate in Cavalaire-sur-Mer and La Croix-Valmer

Yann Cohignac - 23 March 2015

Charming seaside resorts between Le Lavandou and Saint-Tropez in Le Var, Cavalaire-sur-Mer and La Croix-Valmer benefit from a remarkable natural heritage widely appreciated by summer visitors. Very sound assets, with the added appeal of lower prices for certain properties.

A tourist destination in the South of France offering several kilometres of sandy beaches, Cavalaire-sur-Mer (pop. 7,000) nestles in the bay of the same name, at the foot of the Massif des Maures, thus characterized by undulating relief plunging down to the Mediterranean. “A market naturally dominated by holiday homes, which account for 70 % of our sales,” comments Brice Bianchi, manager of Century 21 Agence de la Baie, based in Cavalaire but also covering Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer, La Croix-Valmer and occasionally Ramatuelle, Gassin and Saint-Tropez. “In the case of apartments, older properties start at around 4,000 € per sq. metre, rising to 8,000 € in the best locations with views of the sea. In more recent residences (2009-2010), one can expect to pay about 4,800 € per sqm for apartments in satisfactory condition. Prices in new high-class residences range from 5,400 to 5,800 € per sqm.” In the case of houses, most demand is for properties to renovate or raze to the ground (with the aim of rebuilding), priced from 450,000 to 650,000 €, or villas offering sea views and quality appointments bearing price-tags of over 1 million euros. As illustrated by the agency’s two most recent sales : “A house of 140 m2 with a superb view, at 1 M €, and a house to be demolished, benefiting from grounds of 1,300 m2, at 650,000 €. This solution helps to compensate for the lack of building land”. According to Brice Bianchi, prices of properties proposing all of the most desirable criteria (sea view, sunny outlook or a prime location) are holding steady. Otherwise, they can plummet by 30 %.

Just next to Cavalaire, La Croix-Valmer (3,500 residents) also benefits from magnificent beaches, as well as a protected nature park of over 543 acres (Massif des Maures and Cap Lardier) and five vineyard estates (renowned AOC Côtes-de-Provence wines). “It’s a delightful address, highly-prized for several decades by both a French and international clientele - English, Belgian, Dutch, German and Swiss,” says Jean-Louis Darnis, manager of Darnis Immobilier, an agency in La Croix-Valmer chalking up 95 % of its transactions in the holiday home sector. “Without attaining the peaks recorded in Saint-Tropez, prices here are very high : over the past 3 years, our sales of apartments have ranged from 4,600 to 9,400 € per sqm. As for villas - our speciality -, they cost from 5,500 to 17,000 € per sqm, ie. from 410,000 to over 5 M €.” Building land, costing from 400 to 700 € per sqm, is now hard to find. So here again, “the market for villas which are too dilapidated, and therefore demolished to make way for new constructions, is gradually replacing that of building plots”. Another trend shared with Cavalaire : a decline in prices when properties are overvalued. “Inflation, which characterized the property market in the early 2000’s due to easily obtained mortgages and the enthusiasm of a European clientele less concerned at the time by legal and fiscal instability, tended to absorb excessive pricing. But that’s no longer the case : overpricing is now severely sanctioned by tough bargaining, and the time it takes to sell lasts far too long.” Furthermore, many villas built in the 1960’s-1970’s do not suit today’s tastes and they also post obsolete energy performances. “In the eyes of our clients, two-thirds of the properties we propose are in need of renovation.” And in the eyes of Jean-Louis Darnis, 2015 is the ideal year to buy.