Romans, very well-connected !

At the heart of the Drôme, on the right bank of the Isère, Romans combines history, culture and a quality life-style. With 33,000 inhabitants, 50,000 if one counts those of Bourg-de-Péage, it is the second largest town in the “département”. Its geographic position is its greatest asset.

Romans-sur-Isère lies 18 km north-east of Valence, a 20-minute drive from Le Vercors, a 2-hour ride by TGV from Paris, 1 hr 15 from Marseille and 30 minutes from the Prefecture of the Rhône. The A7 and A49 motorways cross it, and it admits to both Provençal and Lyonnaise influences. The locals are proud of their architectural heritage, the Collégiale Saint-Barnard, the Jacquemart tower, mansions built in the 16th and 17th centuries. The capital of the shoe-making industry has dedicated a museum to the activity that made it famous, even if the good times are over following the transferral of the Jourdan and Kélian production plants. Clergerie is still there and Marques Avenue, a group of outlet shops, provides a welcome alternative for employment. The food industry is growing, and the production of nuclear fuels is well underway.

“Buyers work locally, in Valence, Lyon or Grenoble,” says David Viossat of the Sud Immo agency. Following the general slowdown which abruptly occurred in the autumn of 2008, activity picked up warily in May 2009, five months after a better trend in construction. Today, this estate-agent distinguishes two types of buyers. Less hurried in their decision-making, those ready to invest 500,000 € or more are systematically more demanding, ready to compare and bargain. Half of them are from the neighbouring “départements”, seeking a perfect compromise between town and country, bourgeois properties built in the 1900’s or old stones in the most classic tradition. Currently, a property 5 km from Romans with living space of 200 m2, plus five rooms for paying guests forming a kind of hamlet, is up for sale at 840,000 €. Another of 300 m2 dating back to 1880, in grounds of 7,000 m2 enhanced by a pool and tennis court at Peyrins, should fetch 892,000 €. The majority of buyers pay, however, from 180,000 to 250,000 €, preferably for individual homes in the area. An example of 100 m2, with a garden of 2,800 m2 in the centre, will cost around 190,000 €. A village house with the same living space and a garden of 800 m2, less than 10 minutes from the town, will attain 220,000 €. This type of home, with a drop in prices of about 10 %, suffers severe competition from new construction. For 180,000 €, first-time buyers, particularly interested in this kind of acquisition, can in fact obtain a home of 90 m2 with a garden of 600 m2. Since the introduction of the PLU (local urban planning schemes), land is becoming more freely available. There is a definite trend towards fragmentation. Depending on the zone, building plots range from 100 to 140 €/m2, rising as one gets closer to Valence. As for new developments, they are equally divided between locals wanting to acquire a home and investors taking advantage of the Scellier Act and “Prêt Locatif Social” (a loan favouring acquisitions intended for the rental market). Benefitting from ceilings that are perfectly acceptable, the most inspired, with a down-payment of 10 %, manage to cover almost all of the loan through rents.

“On the immediate outskirts, Les Meannes, La Martinette and La Pierrotte are the most sought-after neighbourhoods due to their proximity to the heart of town, shops and schools, though they cannot really be described as residential,” says Paul Clappe of Paul Clappe Immobilier. The centre draws fans of apartments, mostly first-time buyers with budgets of 80,000 to120,000 €, and retirees ready to pay 150,000 to 200,000 € for an attractive new or recent apartment with parking facilities, elevator and terrace. The sq. metre costs on average 1,500 €. Paul Clappe sees the so-called “Drôme hills”, between Valence and Romans, as a fall-back market. 20 % of clients, often from the region between Paris and Lyon, are looking for holiday homes, appreciate the mild climate and views of the Vercors, and benefit from prices lower than those posted 60 to 80 km further south. Armed with budgets of 180,000 to 300,000 €, they set their hearts on a stone house of 100-170 m2 with grounds of 3,000-4,000 m2. As regards the crisis, our estate-agent prefers to focus on the positive effects, including a more professional approach among estate agencies and the disappearance of opportunistic or non-serious clients. While Romans is struggling to recover from the collapse of its shoe-making industry, it still has a good card to play : with its good transport network for both passengers and goods, it is attractive to businesses and industry, especially around the railway station.

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