Toulouse : “La Côte Pavée”

On the hills to the east, a 10-minute walk from the heart of the “Rose City”, lies the residential neighbourhood known as La Côte Pavée, a name attributed to the Avenue Jean-Rieux back in 1890. An area that appeals to local families in search of quality living standards.

The road starts from the bridge over the canal, a place named Montaudran, before climbing up the hillside. La Côte Pavée is laid out around the park of the Collège du Caousou. Its accommodation takes the form of co-owned properties, more or less old, “Toulousaines” characterized by their symmetrical frontages and terra-cotta decoration, and generously-sized villas built between the two World Wars.

“A distinction should be drawn between the upper and lower parts of La Côte Pavée,” explains Corinne Poujade of Corimo Conseil Immobilier. “The lower part consists of apartment blocks built in the ’sixties and small 1930’s town houses giving onto small gardens, sometimes with an extra floor added in the meantime.” This sector is of interest to the elderly and first-time buyers wanting to be fairly close to the centre at more affordable prices. Here, a 1960’s apartment of 60 m2 costs, for example, 135,000 €. In parallel, deliveries of new developments are scheduled for 2014. The same surface area could then fetch 260,000 €. The streets are quiet but narrow. Parking is a problem. The upper part of La Côte Pavée, residential, middle-class and family-oriented, proposes wider roads and sturdy houses with grounds and even swimming pools. An example of 300 m2 can easily attain 1 million euros and escape the notice of estate agencies by advertising its availability simply by word of mouth. Gated residences built in the 1980’s and 1990’s benefit from parks and vast pools. Their top floors are in particularly high demand. Around the year 2000, the Limayrac neighbourhood began to emerge as a prolongation of La Côte Pavée, endowed with villas designed by architects in generously-sized grounds. The wood of Limayrac, the renowned schools and the Cité de l’Espace are all to the taste of families, living on the site for several generations. They all appreciate the quality life-style and easy access to the city centre, despite the lack of a metro station or tramline.

“Like Le Pont des Demoiselles and Saint-Exupéry, La Côte Pavée remains a buoyant enclave even when the going gets tough,” says Pascal Dejean, transactions manager for Saint Ex Immobilier. Detached post-war houses bear more affordable price-tags than the all-conquering “Toulousaine”. A property may sell in just a few hours, as long as its price has been fairly estimated. New accommodation is also showing strong resistance, whether it serves as a main home or a rental investment - a niche market which is, however, marginal in this area. While many people prefer to acquire an old apartment with 1+ main room rather than invest in the stock market, it’s worth recalling that prices in the rental sector have dropped almost 10 % in just two years. The same observation is true of apartments in the 180,000 to 250,000 € bracket. On the other hand, houses are bearing up well. Among his most recent sales, Pascal Dejean mentions a 4-bedroom apartment of 132 m2 priced at 350,000 €, and a 4-bedroom house of 140 m2, snapped up after being on the market for only eight days, at 550,000 €.

“Residents in La Côte Pavée are fond of their neighbourhood, the congenial relationships they have built up here and the village atmosphere that still exists only a 10-minute walk from the city centre,” comments Fréd­éric Zafran of Zaf Immobilier. Old apartments start from 3,000-3,500 €/m2. Those with 3 or 4 main rooms, representing 80 % of the demand, range from 180,000 to 250,000 €, while houses of 130 m2 in good condition with gardens of 600 m2 can be found from 500,000 to 700,000 €. Houses currently account for 70 % of all sales. Sought-after by people transferred to Toulouse, this is also the category which sees the highest turnover. The buyers, aged on average from 40 to 50, target the address partly for its closeness to schools and shops. The rare new developments sell without any difficulty, with 1-bedroom apartments pegged from 150,000 to 170,000 €. The only fly in the ointment is greed on the part of certain sellers. In the prolongation of the neighbourhood, La Terrasse offers similar types of accommodation at lower prices.