A secret Brittany

A secret Brittany

Aside from its balneal stations, of which the Cote d’Amour is full, the region provides many other gold streaks yet to be discovered on a highly attractive high-class real-estate market.

Go and seek the hidden treasure of the Britons. Argoat hag Armor (between the earth and the sea), Brittany spreads on over 30,000 km2 and occupies a full 5 % of France’s territory. This simple fact of geography should suffice to silence those who claim to know the region like the back of their hand. It would indeed be a shame to pass by the innumerable gems, some of them still unknown or ill-known, that are to be found in the five departments. With a coastline spanning 40 % of France’s total coast-length, a discovery of Brittany surrounded on three sides by water should obviously begin by the beaches. The littoral is probably the main strongpoint of the region. From the real-estate standpoint, it is the most interesting place for many future owners who have come to find a good property by the water at mostly reasonable prices. The proof of this is that the seaside apartments and houses have maintained a very high level, despite the fact that the general Briton market has been slightly declining at the end of 2006 (- 0,8 %) – it is the only French region in this situation according to Century 21 –. Why? Well, probably because of impulse purchases and of the dynamics of a micro-market of exceptional residences following its own crazy rules.

Why not an island?
Many Briton balneal stations such as Carnac, Dinard, Saint-Malo, Bénodet or La Trinité-sur-Mer are in the top 25 most expensive stations in France (source: “les Notaires de l’Ouest” – the Notaries of the West). The littoral continues to attract and the reasons are manifold. For some it will be the charm of old stones and pirate stories. For others, the country’s glorious past and its legends of the sea. And why not simply the beauty of its coasts with such evocative names as “Jade”, “Amour” or “Emeraude” – Jade, Love, Emerald? From Quiberon to Arzon, holidaymakers are consistently populating the Briton beaches. And whereas some wilder spots used to scare yesterdays purchasers, today the thing to be is adventurous and aloof. The absolute must-have is a beautiful villa, far from the best-known places, with THE sea view. For those who like to pretend that no one else exists, the region luckily provides a great number of islands, just a few metres from the coasts. No other region can compare to it in terms of sheer number. Be they in the Morbihan (Île aux Moines, Arz or Belle-Ile-en-Mer), the Finistère (Sein, Molène) or the Côtes-d’Armor (Bréhat), these islands all have one thing in common: secondary residences are seldom for sale and the demand is huge. But if the prices of insular real-estate have doubled in the last four years, they are still much lower than those of the coastline houses (see our enquiry on the next pages). However, this call of the sea doesn’t mean that inland Brittany has nothing to offer, it even has incredibly attractive and little-known real-estate zones! The heart of the region has a string of magnificent cities of art and history where a handful of atypical and exceptional residences are to be found at still reasonable prices. There, History is everywhere, be it religious, political or artistic. Abandoned by a British clientele, which had moved in en masse in the past ten years but is now flocking to the newer landscapes of the south-west of France, this part of the region now offers new opportunities to the French prospective purchasers. Such are the towns of Nantes and Rennes: they are the best-known cities in this part of the country, and yet their ancient narrow streets provide innumerable treasures for prices that are sometimes shockingly below the national average. With a little audacity, clients, especially Parisians, can strike excellent deals there. Why not look into the Trentemoult, the bohemian neighbourhood on the banks of the Loire? The same goes for smaller cities like Saint-Malo, Dinan, Dinard, Vannes, Concarneau, Auray or Josselin, commonly called cities of art, history and character, that have a real-estate market simply chock-full of places that are still confidential, but oh so picturesque. There you breathe the air of a glorious past, that you can still see around the corner of charming paved streets, under city walls two or three hundred years old, or behind houses with still intact wood parts. Each has a “secret garden” just waiting to be discovered!

Céline Varnier