Property sales resume in Nîmes

After four slow years, Nîmes real estate is steadily recovering. The city center is attracting first time buyers and rental investors once again, however, villas on the outskirts of town are still struggling to find buyers.

The property market in Nîmes is slowly returning to form after suffering from low sales volumes since 2011. In 2014, the number of transactions fell by another 15%. However, since the beginning of 2015, sales volumes picked up again. Nîmes notaire Jean-Luc Chevalier tells Express he has seen more and more transactions of 250,000 euros or more in the past few months, amounts unseen for at least two years.

Low prices, advantageous interest rates and a large choice of properties for sale seems to have convinced many purchasing candidates in the Languedoc-Roussillon city that it is time to buy.

Indeed, prices are now within reach of most first-time buyers and young professionals. Realtor at Tissot Immobilier, Charles Bensoussan notes that most sales involve “goods under 200,000 euros.” It looks as though low budget buyers are driving the recovery of Nîmes property market for now.

Rental investors are also resurfacing, especially in the city center, where Nîmes displays its rich Roman history. According to Bensoussan “unlike the sales market, the rental market has not seen its prices drop,” with rental property becoming “increasingly attractive financially with 7-10% returns.” Conversely, luxurious villas surrounding the city are still having a tough time finding buyers.

Capital of the Gard department, this southern French city dates back to the Roman Empire and derives its name from the Nemausus spring — legend had it that Nemausus, Hercules’ son, had founded the village. Ideally located between the Cévennes mountain range and the Mediterranean Sea, Nîmes still boasts of several roman monuments — such as its Arena, pictured above — and is thus sometimes known as la Rome française, the French Rome.

Photo credit: Wikipedia / Wolfgang Staudt