A little drop of Cognac
Like most of France, property prices throughout Poitou Charente
have increased dramatically in recent years. However there is
one "hot spot" that has seen a real economic resurgence that
looks set to stimulate demand for property for some time to come.
While prices in other parts of France remain susceptible to the
vagaries of interest rates, the health of the Euro and the
ability of cheap flight airlines to remain in profit the
Charente market looks to have an interesting security blanket.
The area around Cognac has always relied heavily on the
Worldwide sales of the famous digestif to stimulate the local
economy and indeed property values.
Out of a population of around 900,000 it is estimated that
48,000 people owe their living directly to the drinks industry.
Up until the late 1990's everything was rosy in the cobbled
streets of Cognac with strong worldwide sales and a seemingly
untouchable grip on the luxury drinks market.
Then the collapse of the Asian economy struck home and in
marketing terms the industry had to re-invent itself to fight
off competitor drinks.
Happily this must be one of the most successful case studies of
all time. These days the Cognac industry is thriving again and
the region is buzzing with high employment levels, rising
property prices and a feelgood factor that sits comfortably
alongside the traditional cheery nature of the Charentaise
people.
This repositioning has seen startling results in the US - Cognac
has become a young, trendy and aspirational drink for "young
black America" (who represent 60-80% of US sales), so much so
that sales there have tripled over the past 10 years.
But enough of statistics, here's the truly amazing bit. The "eau
de vie" is lauded in literally hundreds of rap songs throughout
the nightclubs of New York, LA, Miami and Chicago.
This exposure to the US market has meant that the buying pattern
of property purchasers has expanded too. Walk into the local
immobilliers and you will find American and Canadian accents
mixed in with the usual mixture of French , English, Irish,
Scottish, Welsh, Dutch and other Europeans.
The local papers have also been full of stories about the
tourist offices running courses in Chinese language and customs.
France is readying itself for a huge influx of Chinese tourists
now that the barriers of entry have been dropped - they are
estimating that the current number of 300,000 could top the
million mark within five years. Within 10 years the Chinese will
be the highest ranked visitors to France, ahead even of the
British.
Of course many of these visitors will be heading straight for
the Charente to visit the home of their beloved Cognac.
So what will their yen, dollar, pound or euro buy them?
At the base level a client of ours has just bought two excellent
plots of land totalling around 4,500 m2 for 50,000€. This land
is 15 minutes South of Cognac and comes with existing planning
permission and access to all utilities. He plans to build three
houses on the land (one for himself, two for letting) and when
we visited the local Mairie they couldn't have been more helpful
in advising on architecture, local planning rules and other
related issues.
Moving up to the lower end of the housing market a Suffolk
couple have just bought a two bed town house in a good
residential area within 5 minutes walk of the main square in
Cognac town centre. The house is in beautiful condition with a
large sitting room and a small but pretty garden. There is a
strong demand for this type of well situated property and my
clients paid the asking price of around 120,000€.
Towards the coast the landscape flattens but the market remains
buoyant. I performed a search for clients who wanted a mixture
of "country calm" and access to the coast. They had a budget of
150,000€ and we found a charming three bed stone house (yes, it
also had the typically Charentaise green shutters) just outside
Gemozac. It has a garden big enough for the pool my clients
wanted and is a 20 minute drive from the beaches South of Royan.
For a slightly larger budget (175,000€) we found a stunning
stone house - pictured - just North of Jarnac. It is big, 180m2
of habitable space, with a garden of 1340m2 which is ample for
the "pool and space for a kick around" demanded by our clients.
The house also came with a small, detached, studio/office and
barns ripe for conversion.
The 200,000-300,000€ market sees a healthy demand but limited
supply. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find the "gems"
in this budget range as good houses sell quickly. We have
recently found a tremendous Charentaise stone house with five
bedrooms and walled garden of 1800m2 for a London client. He
wants it as a holiday home and security was obviously one of the
important search criteria. While not overlooked the house does
have neighbours and access to the walled garden is limited to
the iron gates at the entranceway. Allied to the obligatory
shutters the house is probably as secure as you could find.
Finally we have had many clients looking with budgets of over
350,000€. This is a healthy sum in the Charente and would
certainly buy a decent family house with views and room for a
pool.
One such client was looking for a full time residence with
stabling for horses. We found a cracking four bed stone house
with 3.5 hectares of land, pool, existing stables, further
outbuildings and many retained features including a beautiful
old well in the grounds.
In essence the same golden rule applies in France as the UK -
think location, location, location. With a booming economy and
surrounded by four airports, TGV and the motorway network the
Cognac area certainly fits the bill.
Graham Downie runs a property search consultancy covering the
Cognac region. Details available at www.cognacproperty.com or
call him on 00 33 6 68 53 12 81
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