Property sales pick up in Strasbourg

Strasbourg’s real estate is recovering this year after sales volumes hitting record lows in 2014. Stable prices and low interest rates are attracting property buyers once again.

Sales have picked up since the beginning of 2015 in the capital of the Alsace region, with property purchases increasing especially in the city center and close periphery, where prices have stabilized at reasonable levels. This comes after a difficult year 2014 where the number of sales had suffered a significant decline.

“This is the time to buy” says Eric Ricou, president of the Chamber of notaires of the Bas-Rhin department. According to him, prices will not fall any further. At the moment apartments in good condition average out at 2,500 euros per square meter.

Dating back to the Middle Ages, Strasbourg’s city center, the Grande Île —the Grand Island — is listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Perched on the banks of the Rhine River, the city offers a varied array of property types in diverse geographical areas.

The most expensive and sought after districts remain the neighborhood around the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Kléber square, as well as the upscale Contades, Saint-Urbain areas and Krutenau areas, where half-timbered houses are particularly appealing to foreign buyers. There, prices range between 2,500 and 5,000 euros per m2. While these high costs never put off investors, residents who had forsaken it for suburban houses began returning at the start of the year.

Cheaper property is available to the southeast, in 1960s towers near the Esplanade, for around 2,000 euros per m2. In the northern suburbs, small houses can be found, costing less than 1,900 euros per m2.

The official seat of the European Parliament, Strasbourg also houses several other European institutions, such as the International Institute of Human Rights and the Eurocorps — an intergovernmental army corps — as well as many academic establishments with its main university, the University of Strasbourg, the second largest in France.

The Neuhof area is currently the site of a series of urban development programs dubbed the “Neue Neustadt” — or new, new city. There new construction starts at 3,600 euros per m2.

Three more districts are currently undergoing urban renewal, Meinau, Hautepierre and Cronenbourg, with 772 million euros invested into enhancing these areas and boosting their economic appeal.

A detailed property price map of Strasbourg is available from Capital.fr.

Photo credit: Wikimedia / Christina