The southern part of the Luberon

The Luberon is one of Europe’s most popular destinations for summer holidays. Its Mediterranean climate, Regional Nature Park, many villages, châteaux and historic monuments, draw tourists keen on wide open spaces and cultural activities. The southern part of the region is, however, also a place for year-round living for many people working in the area or large towns close by.

Since the beginning of 2016, the manager of the Demontis agency in Lauris has also been responsible for the Immo Grambois agency, enabling him to cover an area winding its way along the River Durance from Mérindol to Mirabeau. According to Stéphane Léonard : “The region’s wonderful climate, the beauty of its natural surroundings, its position between sea and mountains, and easier access to the TGV stations of Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, as well as Marignane airport” all make the southern part of the Luberon a privileged site for holiday homes. People from Marseille, Aix, Paris, and a few from other parts of Europe look here for “lovely comfortable houses, well renovated, with gardens, close to villages”, like one villa in Lauris offering an enchanting view of the olive-groves and the Luberon mountains. Set in beautiful wooded grounds of 3,500 m2 with a pool, this bright, practical house of 160 m2 is up for sale at 577,000 €. The majority of properties for sale in the area are old, though Stéphane Léonard is currently proposing an unusual house on this same commune : new, built of wood, with living space of 118 m2 on two floors, and a garden of 550 m2. On offer at 408,000 €, this sobre, modern home guarantees energy savings and benefits from quality appointments.

Sophie Esposito has been in charge of the Bonpré agency in la Tour d’Aigues for the past ten years, covering the area from Lauris to Mirabeau. She receives enquiries from “well-off clients - mainly Belgian, Swiss, English and Dutch - wanting to benefit from this part of the Luberon seen as quieter, more natural and less fancy”, as well as “families in search of village life, just half-an-hour from Aix-en-Provence”. For the first set of buyers, she suggests old properties with high-quality appointments, wonderful surroundings on several acres of land with beautiful views. As for example, in Pertuis, an old “mas” of 400 m2, renov­ated throughout, the main part offering six bedrooms and a spacious lounge of 64m2, plus 1-bedroomed and 2-bedroomed apartments, all set in 75,000 m2 of grounds with a pool, that Andréa Peix, manageress of the agency's foreign clientele, has just sold for 1.2 million euros. For families and first-time buyers giving up on the property market in Aix which has become too expensive, communes in the southern part of the Luberon offer the peacefulness of the countryside combined with proximity to their workplaces. “These couples with children are looking more for detached villas priced at around 300,000 €,” says Sophie Esposito. Such as one in Grambois offering living space of 110 m2 with a garden of 1,350 m2 and a pretty pool, at an asking price of 365,000 €.

Corinne Tellier, associate negotiator for Mirabeau Immobilier, explains that the market has gradually undergone changes over the past five years. “There is now less demand for holiday residences. Even though current price-levels should be an incentive to buy, people prefer to invest their money in improvements on their main homes. The two hubs of economic activity, Cadarache and Aix-en-Provence, draw a clientele of young employees, with or without children, looking for permanent homes.” The agency recently sold an old property of 80 m2 in need of renovation, in grounds of 2,000 m2, on the commune of Beaumont de Pertuis, priced at 191,000 €. In the same category, but with no renovation required, a 3-bedroomed villa of 120 m2 all on one floor, in grounds of 2,000 m2 in Mirabeau, is on offer at 291,000 €. Corinne Tellier stresses the fact that the local market mainly consists of old properties. With regard to renovation, the Mirabeau Immobilier agency provides two original services : home-staging, ie. “enhancement by means of minor decoration work and rearrangement of a property, to make it more attractive”, and a 3D concept enabling buyers to imagine development possibilities for a property they would like to acquire : a good way of obtaining an insight into the potential of a villa or “mas” to renovate.

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