GRASSE, SAINT-PAUL-DE-VENCE, Fragrantly exceptional

“Prices at Saint-Paul are well above the local average... and are not always justified!” says Valérie Maurin, from Maurin Immobilier.

The lower margin for maneuver on some properties can even reach “€100,000 to 150,000.” Nevertheless, “as long as foreigners are used to a higher priced market than ours, they will keep on coming to Saint-Paul.” They account for 60% of the clientele at Maurin Immobilier and mainly comprise British, Danes, Swedes and Italians.

In Saint-Paul, the priority locations are on the higher ground, especially around the much renowned hotel-restaurant of Mas-d'Artigny. The entry ticket for a stylish villa carrying this prestige address is €1.5 million. But the required budget can rise to “several million” for “large properties with a sea view,” notes Jean-Claude Hilaire at the John Taylor agency. Old Saint-Paul is another market that is “equally sought-after and equally expensive,” observes Valérie Maurin.

The lively little shopping streets under the ramparts are packed with typical village houses. People choose Grasse for its “quality/price ratio” suggests Olivier Marella at the Agence de Provence. Once again, the English and Scandinavians are the leading nationalities among foreigners in search of secondary residences. “Grasse is a galaxy of micro-markets, so it is hard to give an average price,” warns Olivier Marella.

They range from €500,000 to 600,000 for a neo-Provençal house built in the 1980s, with 150 sq. m of living space and four bedrooms, a pool and 1,500 sq. m. of land.

But be careful! “Whatever the type of property, there’s a serious shortage on the Grasse market despite the thousand new homes built over the past five to six years, mainly sold under the fast-amortization formula of the Robien Law,” says Olivier Marella. Fragrantly exceptional “

GRASSE, SAINT-PAUL-DE-VENCE, Fragrantly exceptional, Luxury real estate in best places of France

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