The east end of the Côte d’Azur

25 July 2024

Next door to Italy and the Principality of Monaco, the east end of the Côte d’Azur remains a dream address for international buyers. On certain communes, stocks of offerings are tending to be rebuilt, while enticing opportunities in immediate proximity to Monaco are being snapped up.

Based in Menton for the past 10 years, the Edouard VII agency is getting ready to open a second office in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, with inauguration scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024. With expertise in sales, management and rentals of all kinds of properties from studios to villas and all types of apartments, this multilingual agency targets an international clientele, especially during the high season, and a local and national clientele all year round.

explains Agency Manager Gabriele Lepri.

“Next door to the Principality of Monaco, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin is characterized by its competitive, high-end market, always lively, even though the electoral period in France has set a brake on searches for permanant homes undertaken by numerous Monégasques and people employed in Monaco, who prefer to see how the situation evolves, both politically and in banking terms. As for international clients, it currently seems that they have opted for other lovely regions around the world,”

“This situation encourages us to remain vigilant and carry out in-depth research for each of our clients. After the post-Covid boom, prices have readjusted and we need to assist our clients at each stage, explaining current developments. On the positive side, we have a wider range of stocks and can offer a choice of high-quality properties.”

For example, Gabriele Lepri mentions a superb penthouse of 150 m2 on the plateau of Le Cap in Roquebrune, in the prized residential neighbourhood of La Torraca. Offering 4 main rooms and prolonged by terraces, with an infinity pool and sea views, this outstanding property, priced at 1,680,000 €, faces south and enjoys total peace and quiet. Another exceptional example is a new villa of 315 m2 with generous terraces, an infinity pool, and beautiful panoramic sea views. In a residential neighbourhood in Roquebrune, not far from the Principality, this villa comprised of 8 main rooms, with cutting-edge home automation, and covered parking space for 4 cars, is on offer at 6,000,000 €.

A long-established agency in La Turbie, L’Agence Régionale was created in 1954, then acquired by Aurore Perard in 2005. Specializing in sales, rentals, rental management and expertise, this independent agency on a human scale proposes a choice of quality properties on communes that are neighbours with Monaco.

“Our clientele is mainly comprised of local buyers, families who have placed their trust in us for several generations, and a few international clients drawn by the renown of our village agency,” says Aurore Perard.

And the local market ?

“Being myself born and living in Monaco, I also have a network and activity as a Real Estate Expert within the Principality. We have a good number of clients who are Monégasques or working in Monaco.”

“Increasingly stretched, it is characterized in particular by significant imbalance between supply and unabated demand : we struggle to find availabilities to satisfy our clientele. Prices remain stable, however, and completion times are accelerating.” Within this context, clients increasingly prefer turnkey properties, while those requiring renovation or building plots, long sought-after, now mostly attract professional clients. In any event, at L’Agence Régionale, properties of quality continue to satisfy a serious clientele in search of an efficient, professional intermediary.