Property in France: Hidden gems
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A dreamy French farmhouse en pleine campagne for less than €400,000 could be yours in real life. True, the British have snapped up a fair number of them already, and prices in parts of Provence and the Côte d'Azur are sky-high, but there are still plenty of bargains to be found - if you know where to look.
"Detached stone properties in France went up 20 per cent overall last year," says Trisha Mason, managing director of estate agency VEF. "But you are still paying on average 40 per cent less that you would in the UK. And properties like these don't exist in Britain." Mason is referring to traditional houses, with bathrooms and kitchens untouched since the 1950s. "Most people want to make their mark on a property," she says. "And in France you really can." Some areas are overpriced, she says, but often, just around the corner, there is an overlooked village, surrounded by hills dotted with beautiful houses. Even in the well-heeled south, there are little pockets where prices are cheaper. Stuart Baldock of Property Vision (www.propertyvision.com) recommends Cadarache, north-east of Aix-en-Provence, where the ITER research project is based. "You are definitely not paying a Provençal premium there," he says. "The compromise is that you don't have 10 or 15 nice restaurants nearby, but they'll come." Even behind Nice, there are undiscovered villages. "The access to hilltop villages such as Gillette, Bonson and St Martin de Vesubie is difficult," he says. "But the views are spectacular." |
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