Changes where the well-off are buying
Whether it is a decision on a new tramway or the loss of major industries, the way property is owned in towns and cities evolves over the years, as these graphics from the Notaires de France show.
They follow the way high value properties have changed and re-locate as people’s desires prompt a different style of life; perhaps more suburban, perhaps more city centre-based.
Over 15 years, from 2001 to 2016, notaires followed prices of the top 10% of properties in towns across France to see if values tended to even out or if they became concentrated. Here, we look at very different results in Bordeaux, Nice and Nantes.
The most expensive properties in Bordeaux (shown in red) are no longer in the outer areas but in the centre, ‘Triangle d’or’ with the Cours de L’Intendance, Allées de Tourny and Cours Clémenceau plus the old town and the Port de la Lune quayside. High-spending residents, and incomers, deserted the north and east of the city as the tram opened access. Prices rise near the tram line.
When the survey started, the highest value properties in Nice were based in a tight area on the Promenade des Anglais and the central axis up to the heights of Cimiez (shown in red) while new property building was taking place in the western hills. Today, the Promenade is still No1 but higher value properties have spread its length and over to the Col de Villefranche. Areas where the colour is less intense than in 2001 may not have dropped in value, but just not risen as much as in other sectors.
Nantes sees its most sought-after areas become more intense in the city centre whereas 15 years ago they were much more evenly spread out. One of the key areas is the Ile de Nantes which has undergone renovation from heavy industry since 2000 and is now a growing young residential quarter. Another is the Sud-Loire, where the Busway has opened access and boosted nearby prices.
