Vidauban, at the heart of Green Provence
Radia Amar - 08 December 2014
Conveniently situated between Cannes and Toulon, close to motorways, the TGV station in Les Arcs and only 26 km from the beaches, Vidauban, a commune in the Var with almost 10,000 residents, has very sound arguments and attractive prices.
A Mediterranean climate, local produce of high quality, panoramic views of natural greenery… Vidauban is a pleasant little town surrounded by vineyards in the middle of the valley of the Argens river and backing onto the Massif des Maures. Wine production - mostly rosé wines - has become the main activity, represented by 5 châteaux, 9 vineyard estates and a cooperative wine cellar.
“The most widely sought-after home in Vidauban is a 3-bedroomed house with a garden of at least 600 m2 benefiting from a pool,” says Stéphanie Coursol of the agency Les Bastides Blanches. “Most of our clients are retirees who have sold their homes, often in the Parisian region or Belgium, and are hoping to settle in the South of France. Some people working in the Alpes-Maritimes are also drawn by the value for money offered by the local market. They are prepared to do a bit more driving in order to treat themselves to a villa with limited budgets, which do not allow them to enter this segment of the market in their département.” In fact, some houses with gardens can be found in Vidauban under 200,000 €. “Properties of higher quality, built from 1990 to 2010, are however priced from 350,000 to 400,000 €. There are a lot of homes on the market, but there is a gap between buyers’ budgets - around 300,000 € or so - and sellers’ demands. This imbalance naturally slows down the pace of transactions, even though they are ultimately completed,” explains Stéphanie Coursol, for whom 2014 has confirmed the stability seen in 2013.
Open since September, 2014, the Clémentine B agency offers an approach based on customized advice for each of its clients, developing in particular a well-targetted communication strategy for each property. “We have noticed that the market for building land has become more lively since the commune introduced its P.L.U (Local Urban Planning Plan),” says manageress Clémentine Boiraud. “We have just sold a plot of 539 m2 priced at 85,000 €.” Today’s prices for plots of 1,000 m2 range from 110,000 to 120,000 €, sharply lower than those seen two years ago. Once the house has been built, the owners will have spent about 220,000 € in all, a budget corresponding to those of many local workers and first-time buyers. This trend also has the effect of slowing down sales of existing villas. “An impeccable villa proposed at 240,000 € finally found a taker after 6 months, whereas two or three years ago, an identical home would have sold within a few weeks !” adds Clémentine Boiraud, a specialist on this area for over five years. Fortunately for the resale market, not all buyers are willing to shoulder the burden of building their own homes !