Living in La Dracénie

Comprised of 19 communes around the town of Draguignan in Le Var, the urban community of La Dracénie is home to almost 108,000 residents. Midway between Marseille, Nice, Aix-en-Provence and Toulon, and close to important tourist sites (Verdon Gorges, Gulf of Saint-Tropez and the Côte d’Azur), the area benefits from a property market offering excellent value for money.

Specializing in sales of villas and agricultural estates in Lorgues, Flayosc, Les Arcs, Villecroze, Le Thoronet, Aups, Le Luc, Vidauban and Draguignan, the Agence Pierre Azur, opened in Lorgues in 1991, offers a wide range of properties priced from 300,000 to 3 million euros. “We are beginning to see a return to an average level of transactions, though bargaining is often tough between buyers and sellers,” says Dominique Varé who, with her partner Alexandra Green Bakker, deals with a clientele comprised 50% of French, 50% foreigners : mainly English, Dutch, Belgian and Scandinavian. “Our sales mostly involve permanent homes. The communes of Lorgues, Flayosc and Villecroze are the most sought-after among foreign clients.” A budget somewhere between 600,000 and 900,000 € allows buyers to set their sights on villas of approx. 250 m2 with quality appointments, in grounds of 2,000 m2. “This segment of the market is the one that is currently suffering the most. Buyers are pretty thin on the ground.” Priced around 400,000 €, 2- and 3-bedroomed houses (of about 100 m2) with gardens of 1,000 m2 comprise the most buoyant part of the market. Clients with more modest budgets target building plots selling for around 120,000 € on average. “The region is also well-known for its agricultural estates. We have some on offer, at prices between 1.2 and 3 million euros.”

Based in Vidauban since 1995, the family-run agency Les Bastides Blanches, managed by Stéphanie Coursol and her sister Katia, mainly proposes houses for sale on the communes of Les Arcs, Vidauban, Le Luc, Le Cannet, Trans-en-Provence, Le Muy, Lorgues and Taradeau. “Our transactions mainly consist of acquisitions of year-round homes, though we have noticed a rising number of enquiries from clients from the region around Paris, looking for holiday homes. Wanting to acquire long-term assets of quality, they are drawn by the value for money offered by our communes, especially as the market has seen a steep drop in prices over the past few years,” says Stéphanie Coursol. In the case of permanent homes, the most frequent buyer profiles are comprised of people working around the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, in local firms and shops, or employed by the army. With budgets often revolving around 250,000 €, they hope to find a pleasant familiy home with 3 bedrooms. “It often happens that their list of requirements does not correspond to the reality of their budget. A watershed exists at this level, except for homes built in the 1980’s, now in need of extensive renovation. Such properties may well sell at prices under 200,000 €. For holiday homes, budgets are closer to 300,000 €, with potential buyers searching for villas with gardens of at least 1,500 m2 and a pool. These properties are, however, presented on the market from 330,000 €. Even though less visible, there are still clients for properties over and above 400,000 €, mainly consisting of buyers from the region around Paris and North Europeans.”

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