“The trend is towards falling prices in old properties. But we are still on a small bubble”notes Anne Bouron, director of the Avance Immo agency in Chorges.
Sellers are struggling to mourn the post-Covid years, where prices have soared in certain areas of the Southern Alps.
In Prunières, on the southern slopes of Lake Serre-Poncon, certain houses with large gardens and views of the lake are offered for more than €500,000.
But potential buyers are not rushing. “At the end of confinement, the Embrunais market was abnormally dynamic. We have seen an increase of around 25% in sales prices in five years”explains Maître Olivier Gonnet, notary (1).
The pure air, the mountains…
These rising prices have been consolidated, and the attractiveness of the sector is delaying their decline. But the observation is general. From the north to the south of the Hautes-Alpes, real estate agents always note a strong demand from people wishing to go green and quiet.
Parisians, Lyonnais, Grenoblois, Marseillais and even Niçois who settle in their main residence, by lifestyle choice or thanks to teleworking.
Others have a second home, sometimes with the idea of living there when they retire. “They seek clean air, good weather, the mountains in summer and winter and flee traffic, pollution, heat in summer…”note to Briançon Pierry Montel, transaction director of the Park Agency.
Briançonnais always more expensive
Covid has accentuated this trend in this department of 140,976 inhabitants which has 45.5% second homes (2).
Result in the former, as of July 31, 2024 and over a smooth year, the median price increased further in Hautes-Alpes by + 5.4% for apartments and + 4.8% for houses, to reach respectively €2,070 per square meter and €251,700 (3).
And Briançonnais remains in pole position with the highest median prices for apartments (€3,200 per m2, +11.9%) as well as for houses (€321,000) (3).
It is true that it concentrates resorts with high prices and a large number of second homes. Le Monêtier-les-Bains, one of the communes of Serre-Chevalier, displays an average price of €4,604 per square meter for apartments and €5,464 per square meter for houses (3).
The town of Briançon is not left out: “In 10 years, the square meter has increased by €1,000”assures Pierry Montel.
Hosting the 2030 Olympic Games in the area could amplify the phenomenon, while locals are already struggling to become owners.
If the average price of apartments in old buildings in Briançon (4) is close to €2,570 per square meter, certain properties can sell for more than €3,700 per square meter like this T3 renovated in 2023 purchased for €270,000 for a second home.
Prices at the top in Embrun
As for houses, they are rare. To have a softer exterior and prices, some Briançonnais move to L'Argentière-la-Bessée or La Roche-de-Rame.
They thus get closer to Guillestrois, a gateway to Queyras and Embrunais. These three areas are also very sought after and their prices follow those of Briançonnais with a median value of €3,180 per square meter for apartments and €297,900 for houses (3).
“Properties with a view and plenty of sunshine have become unaffordable in Briançonnais. As a result, some people discover that our sector is Nice and not so far away”notes Delphine Moutte, real estate advisor at Safti in Guillestre.
In a peripheral residential area of this town, a family fell under the spell of a house of 157 m², with five bedrooms and 1,120 m² of land, a second home purchased for €420,000 and in which they will have to do work energy renovation.
“Today rare, the house without work with a view and without neighbors is a hit and can reach €450,000 to €500,000 for a surface area of 100 to 120 m²”she explains.
However, real estate prices remain lower than in Embrun, on the edge of Lake Serre-Ponçon and at the foot of the resorts (Les Orres, Crevoux, Montclar, Reallon).
The average price in old properties in this “Nice des Alpes” (4) which has more apartments (71.9%) (2) than houses: €3,141 per square meter.
Not far from the lake, Chorges is closer to Gap, the most populated town in the Hautes-Alpes (45,000 inhabitants) (2).
“The position of Chorges is central: near Gap, the lake and the Reallon station, we are also two hours from Marseille”underlines Anne Bouron.
And the displayed prices remain rather high: “Up to €4,000 per m² for a house. »
The Gapençais more socket
Chorges, Tallard and the towns around fifteen kilometers from Gap thus benefit from their proximity to the economic capital of the department and have developed.
“Our attractiveness has been strengthened with the deployment of green tourism and outdoor activities”explains Carole Deauze, director of the L’Edelweiss Immobilier agency in Gap.
And the profile of non-local buyers has diversified with, after the health crisis, more active people, families and young couples.
“We had a lot of people from Savoie looking for the mountains at a more affordable price”she notes.
Others flee the heat of the Côte d'Azur and the world. But their borrowing capacity has contributed to the surge in property prices in Gapençais until 2022.
As a result, to find apartments today at low prices (from €1,700 per m²), you have to buy properties with work.
The renovated ones sell between €2,300 and €2,800 per square meter like this 111 m² T4 (with garage) in a 1975 co-ownership in the city center bought for €290,000 by pensioners.
And if some individual houses today approach €600,000, rare are those for less than €300,000 like this 89 m² semi-detached house sold for €250,000.
Champsaur, Dévoluy and Buëch more affordable
The necessary budget hardly decreases moving away from Gap. “But for the same price you might get bigger and newer”slips Carole Deauze.
Located 18 kilometers north of Gap, Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur also saw its prices increase by +18% in 2023 with a median square meter at €2,030 (3).
Champsaur also appeals to those looking for peace and quiet. And “the price gap is narrowing with the Gapençais”, notes Jean-Mickael Bonnet, transaction manager for the Century 21 Interalpes agencies in Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur and Century 21 in Gap.
There are rather small apartments (studio, T1, T2) and old buildings to renovate, like this 78 m² house on 700 m² of land sold for €185,000. Estimated cost of the work: €110,000.
As a result of this attractiveness of Gapençais extended to Champsaur, these two territories display the highest increase in the median price for old houses recorded by notaries as of July 31, 2024, i.e. + 10.8%.
A boost also observed in the old ones on Dévoluy and Buech (3), but more for apartments (+ 8.9%) than for houses (+ 3.7%).
Proof that the entire department is on the rise: it always attracts more because it is good to live there. “More than employment, it is tourism and well-being that drive our real estate market”assures Thomas Siegel, director of the Buech Durance Immobilier agency in Tallard.
(1) Video interview broadcast on April 9, 2024 on Passezalacte.com, site of notaries of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes
(2) INSEE, 2021
(3) Departmental real estate situation of Hautes-Alpes, Notaries of France, from 1is August 2023 to July 31, 2024
(4) FNAIM monthly real estate barometer, 1is October 2024
Average price per square meter in old buildings as of October 1, 2024
Apartments Houses
Barcelonnette 2 408 € 3 281 €
Briançon 2 568 € 3 513 €
Choir group 2 727 € 2 977 €
Digne-les-Bains 1 522 € 2 382 €
Embrun 3 023 € 3 420 €
Gap 2 203 € 2 918 €
Guillestre 2 522 € 2 787 €
Laragne-Monteglin 1 340 € 2 183 €
Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur 1 831 € 2 365 €
Greenhouses 1 045 € 1 895 €
Sisteron 1 531 € 2 353 €
Tallard 1 886 € 2 567 €
Veynes 1 210 € 1 763 €
Source: FNAIM monthly real estate barometer
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