The lack of supply on the French coast further drives up the price of new homes

From Brittany to Corsica, almost everywhere, the prices of three-room apartments, the benchmark typology for this ranking, are increasing in the most dynamic seaside resorts in terms of new construction. Coastal towns where supply continues to shrink, which always creates more pressure on prices.

Budgets for buying new housing on the seaside have largely tended to increase in recent years and even more so in recent months. New real estate on the French coast has never been so weakened by the lack of supply; even if certain seaside destinations make it possible to bring together the desire to become an owner facing the sea at a more affordable price.

The high volatility of prices for new properties by the sea

From - 19% to + 36%, the annual changes in the price of new buildings on the seaside make up the big difference between the coastal towns in this barometer; but the trend is more upwards. 8 increases for only 2 decreases in the 10 towns in our selection of the tourist localities among the most active in new housing for all of the French coasts, from Saint-Malo to Porto-Vecchio.

What explains this big difference in evolution? The more the supply is restricted and the more the prices are volatile, here a very high-end program launch, elsewhere, the end of a premium operation and the upward or downward trend can be very strong. This explains the significant increase, the strongest of this barometer, in Saint-Raphaël in the Var: +36% where a new program offers three-room apartments at 710.000 €, causing the average price in the Var resort to soar. However, there are opportunities in a residence with swimming pool at 300.000 € for 3-bedroom apartments.

Conversely, prices are settling down in La Baule: -19% in one year to €425.900 for a three-room apartment, with the end of the sale of a very high-end operation which no longer has lots available on this typology. Whether in the cities of Saint-Raphaël or La Baule, there are barely ten new programs on sale each.

New home prices in tourist towns

However, the tourist attraction of the French coast cannot be denied. The prices of new real estate by the sea are rising regardless of the region. The strong upward trend on the western side of France confirms the attraction for these regions which offer quality of life, employment, freshness…: +15% in SaintMalo, +16% in La Rochelle, +24% in Anglet… Even Biscarosse in the Landes recorded an increase of +6%, while remaining more accessible at €278.000 in Q3.

Around the Mediterranean, the trend is also towards rising prices: +17% in Sète while remaining affordable at €263.000 for a three-room apartment. In addition to being a tourist destination, the city of Hérault has become a real transfer market for the Montpellier metropolis, which also explains this pressure on prices.

Strong growth also in Antibes: +23% to €455.000. Only Hyères in the Var follows the national trend with prices up by +4% and an average price of €311.000.

Note the significant drop recorded over one year in Porto-Vecchio in southern Corsica: -12% and a rather affordable price for new accommodation in a popular seaside resort at less than €330.000 for a three-room apartment.

The French coast between lack of supply and strong demand

As elsewhere in France, new real estate by the sea is penalized by the lack of supply while listings fell by more than 30% in one year at the end of the first quarter of 2022, according to figures from the FPI and even 50% since 2018. It is impossible to replenish the stock of available housing on the French coast, especially since demand has been very strong there since the Covid and the confinements.

For Céline Coletto, spokesperson for Find-un-logement-neuf.com: “In both new and old buildings, the French coast and in particular on the western facade has experienced unprecedented demand since the health crisis. Normandy, Vendée, Charente-Maritime… whether it is to move and live year-round, to acquire a second home, or even to buy a semi-main residence, the seaside attracts but struggles to meet the high demand. »

Still, the offer does not necessarily follow. There are sometimes only a few new programs per seaside resort. Certain types of new apartments are no longer even available.

These most expensive tourist cities in France

As some localities do not even display enough new programs to establish relevant averages on the price of a three-room apartment, famous towns such as Saint-Tropez, Biarritz, Le Touquet... are not present in this top 5 cities most expensive tourist attractions.

As a result, among the seaside resorts with at least three new programs on the market, Le Cannet becomes the most expensive tourist town in this 2022 barometer with a price that exceeds €550.000 for Q3. Count up to 850.000 € for some three-room apartments and it is close to 1,5 million euros for some four-room apartments.

Two Var resorts complete the podium: Saint-Raphaël and Bormes-les-Mimosas where it takes at least €481.000 to acquire a three-room apartment. Note the presence of Deauville, the prestigious coastal town of the Côte Fleurie in Normandy, which has entered this top 5 with an average price of €434.800 per T3, down -3% in one year.

Opportunities for investing by the sea

If, as everywhere in France, prices in most tourist towns continue to climb over the years, there are always great opportunities to invest in new real estate by the sea and why not come and settle on the coast to telecommute and enjoy a new quality of life.

Example in Saint-Nazaire where one can acquire a T3 for less than 270.000 €, despite an increase of almost 9% in one year. Guérande or even Saint-Jean-de-Monts on the Atlantic coast recorded a sharp increase in their average price: +24% and +30% respectively but remaining more accessible at less than €250.000 for a 3-bedroom apartment in Saint-Jean -de-Monts and €325.000 in Guérande.

Even on the Côte d'Azur and around the Mediterranean, it is possible to opt for coastal towns that are affordable for their location. Example: take advantage of the -15% drop in new property prices in Villeneuve Loubet in the Alpes-Maritimes and buy a 3-bedroom apartment at 355.000 €.

You can also choose to live in a medium-sized town by the sea, such as Istres (€245.000 for three-room apartments) or Martigues (€3 for three-room apartments) in the Bouches-du-Rhône to take advantage of a large pool of jobs and attractive prices by the sea.

Conclusion

Like the Normandy and Atlantic coasts, demand remains strong in seaside tourist towns and, faced with an increasingly scarce supply, the upward trend in prices can only increase. All the more so in the current context of inflation, shortage of materials and rising cost of construction. However, there are still great opportunities to be seized to invest in seaside resorts which will make it possible to combine pleasure investment, rediscovered quality of life and why not telework or even permanent installation in tourist towns which are becoming more and more active towns in the year.

Check here the price of new real estate city by city.

Average price of a three-room apartment in a selection of 10 coastal towns from north to south of France.

Methodology: a real-time calculation method

The current average price of new real estate in French coastal tourist towns was calculated on Monday, May 30, 2022 for the reference area of ​​a new three-room apartment, according to the prices indicated each day by the site's advertisers. Find-un-logement-neuf.com: on a minimum basis of 3 different new real estate programs for each locality, i.e. several dozen new housing prices compared.