Property Prices in the Aude - Janaury 2008

Trend in prices of houses and real estate in the Aude

I try to update the Aude Property Prices page on my real estate site every January.  I think I missed last January - there was a lot going on, something was bound to slip through the cracks.

It's difficult to forecast real estate prices in the south of France.  There are two markets, the French local market, and the foreign market.  People tend to misunderstand this and interpret it to mean that there's one price for French people and another - higher - price for foreigners.  What it really means is that the two groups are looking for different types of properties.

Unfortunately data isn't collected and analyzed separately, all sales are lumped together.  My numbers are based on sales to non-French buyers in the past year.  Not all sales to foreign property buyers in the Aude but sales made by 5 agents who specialize in selling to the English speaking market.  Anecdotal and experiential data and a casual analysis.

It's intended to help you establish a realistic budget before you start looking at houses.  And to help people who are thinking of selling have some guideline to pricing.       

Prices of village houses in the Aude - a guideline

Village houses

Realistically, for a three bedroom village house, with no outside space, in good condition in a village with a cafe/bar and maybe a restaurant, a bakery, a butcher, and a grocery store, within an hour of the coast and of Carcassonne airport you can expect to pay at least 135,000 euros.

Same house in a village with no amenities would be about 120,000 euros. Unrenovated, it could be as low as 50,000 euros.

Same house with a court in a village with amenities, 150,000 euros

Same house with a court in a village with no amenities, 140,000 euros

Same house with a garden in a village with amenities, 195,000 euros

Same house with a garden in a village without amenities, 180,000 euros

There will never be a lot of village houses with gardens on the market because they are rare here.

When a house is listed as good condition you need to plan on painting and decorating. A lot of the time you also need to update or replace kitchens and bathrooms.

Check the information at Aude France Property for more details.