Seasonal rentals on the French Riviera
With over 10 million visitors every year, the Côte d’Azur is France’s second most important tourist destination after Paris, itself one of the world’s most popular cities. In the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var, hospitality is more than a mere activity : it is an historic vocation.
Once upon a time, White Russians and British aristocrats set out for the south-eastern part of France, building magnificent properties large and luxurious enough to accommodate both them and their households throughout the winter season. Thus it was that fishing villages such as Cannes and Beaulieu-sur-Mer inherited a collection of “Belle Epoque” residences, the legacy of a sumptuous past. Decades have gone by and the enthusiasm of wealthy foreigners has certainly not waned. Since the sacrosanct fashion for sea-bathing, their preference now goes to the summer rather than the colder seasons, and design rather than antiques. The quest for service and the appeal of the Riviera’s capes and the Saint-Tropez peninsula are more than ever in evidence. 40 % of the local working population owe their livelihoods to the tourist industry. According to the Observatoire du Tourisme de la Côte d’Azur, 50 % of stays are spent in hotels, 6 % in seasonal rentals. Each year, the most popular sites after the Principality of Monaco, the Old Town of Nice, the Promenade des Anglais, the Croisette, Cap d’Antibes, Cap Ferrat, Eze and Saint-Paul, chalk up over 1 million visitors. Historic monuments, beaches, good restaurants, art galleries, trendy boutiques and attractions… It’s very hard to resist. And on top of all this, intense activity revolving around seminars, congresses and festivals, also generates lots of movement. One out of every five trips is made for professional reasons, even if, in our part of the world, work automatically goes hand-in-hand with pleasure.
Emmanuelle le Quellec-Furrer and Judith Davis of the Agence Impact are very positive in this period marked by lots of reservations in Cannes, France’s most active town after the capital. All thanks to the Mipim dedicated to real estate (in March), MipTV (April), the International Film Festival (May), the Lions event devoted to advertising films (June), MipCom (October) and the Tax Free exhibition (December), which has just celebrated its 30th anniversary. Chalking up higher figures this year, the Mipim attained an occupancy rate of 95 % for apartments corresponding to the criteria required : a location less than a 10-minute walk to the Croisette and the Palais des Festivals, renovated properties of high quality, and para-hotel services. Less impersonal than hotels, rentals must, as their main competitors, be accompanied by an array of services, from private chauffeurs to well-stocked refrigerators when the tenants arrive. A 2-bedroomed apartment of 80 m2 with a terrace, sea view and tasteful decor in the Grand Hôtel on the Croisette costs 5,500 € per week during the Mipim, 15,000 € for the 2 weeks of the Film Festival, 6,500 € per week for the Lions event, and 4,500 € during MipTV, MipCom and the Tax Free exhibition, service charges included. Surface areas of over 100 m2 on the famous coastal strip are reguarly transformed into offices (subject to observation of congress organizers’ conditions), whence high expectations regarding home automation and connections, anticipated by agencies when bookings are requested. The nec plus ultra ? Receptions for VIP clients on terraces facing the Palais des Festivals, a luxury with a price-tag of 15,000 € per evening. Renovated apartments just behind the Croisette, on Rue d’Antibes, Rue des Belges and Rue des Etats-Unis, are also in high demand during congresses. Mostly intended as living accommodation, they post prices about 30 % lower. At the moment, the Film Festival looks rather like the last one : no euphoria, no hurry. The announcement of the films selected may, however, accelerate reservations. The Film Market is no longer as fruitful as it was in the past, and budgets for special events are the first to be hit. While apartments are holding their heads above water, especially penthouses on the Croisette, from 40,000 to 120,000 € for 2 weeks depending on surface areas, villas are having a harder time. On the other hand, the Lions event continues to rise in popularity, thanks to the strong presence of the Americans, giants of the Internet with their large delegations. This congress is now undoubtedly the most profitable and the most festive, without falling into the excesses of Film Festivals held over the past decades.
As for the summer season, estate-agents are more reserved. Interested parties are late in making contact, the Russians are hesitant, and prices are being adjusted on the downside,. Clients from the Middle East are already taking up position, alongside Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons, two clienteles focusing on stays of at least two weeks. On the hills behind Cannes, you can expect to pay 35,000 € per month for a tastefully decorated house with four bedrooms, 75,000 € per month for six bedrooms and irreproachable appointments facing the Med. For identical properties, Cannes posts prices 20 % lower than those on Cap d’Antibes, which can offer seafront properties within walking distance of the beaches or right at the water’s edge. In summer, a villa with nine suites opening out to a luxuriant park with a vast pool on the seafront will rent for 130,000 € per month or more on Cap d’Antibes.
Frédérique Mathias of Azur Méditerranée covers the eastern part of the Alpes-Maritimes, in the famous “golden triangle” formed by Villefranche, Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, home to the most select cape between Menton and Saint-Tropez. Russian clients, who have been much scarcer on the market for property acquisitions since the political crisis and sharp decline in the value of the rouble, are making up by renting villas offering ultra-contemporary decor, a pool and magnificent sea view, preferably for longer periods, often several months. These longer stays cost them 7,000 to 50,000 € per month, with a property at the water’s edge on Cap Ferrat - with living space of 500 to 800 m2 in almost 2.5 acres of grounds, top-notch appointments and spearhead home automation - rising to close on 200,000 € per month in summer. Last year, the occupancy rate was around 80 %. This season, there are certainly fewer reservations than in 2014 at the same time, though the figures show some promise. Apartments are also doing well, ranging from 1,000 € per month for a large studio to 20,000 € per month for a penthouse of 100 m2 (three suites) in Beaulieu, with a generous outdoor area, jacuzzi, summer kitchen and, most importantly, a plunging view of the Mediterranean. On average, occupancy of rented apartments lasts 26 weeks per year. The only fly in the ointment is a scarcity of properties to rent year-round. In fact, for equivalent annual income, owners prefer the system of seasonal rentals allowing them to benefit from their homes, rather than straightforward year-round rentals. Clients are often dead-set on their choice of Cap Ferrat and its neighbouring addresses. Though agencies sometimes lose a client or two to Saint-Tropez, and vice versa.
“Belgians, English and Scandinavian clients remain loyal to this legendary and party-loving port in the Var,” comments Jean-Philippe Costa of Blue Immobilier. The core of demand consists of budgets from 50,000 to 120,000 € per month. Almost a dozen tenants have just parted with sums from 150,000 to 200,000 € for a month’s stay, though they will not suffice to replace the wealthy oligarchs of previous years. Unlike North Europeans, set on their choice of Saint-Tropez and shorter stays, clients from Eastern Europe prove to be more volatile as regards the address and more inclined to rent for longer periods. As on Cap Ferrat, a property of over 500 m2 right at the water’s edge will cost from 150,000 to 200,000 € per month. Long subjected to criticism, properties have been treated to modernization. They now offer quality and greater homogeneity. Drawing a more diverse clientele, apartments are surfing on a wave of demand. Everything rents, from basic homes to a typical pied-à-terre in the centre of Saint-Tropez, garden-level apart
