Become the owner of a house, with a little land, while maintaining local services and good chances of finding a job. This, in summary, is the desire of an ever-increasing number of French people. And if with the surge in rates, some have had to review their plans, the dream remains possible in dozens of medium-sized municipalities, in particular thanks to attractive real estate prices.
To help you, Le Parisien has drawn up a unique ranking of cities where buying a property is still possible for most budgets, while living in dynamic and pleasant areas on a daily basis. Land prices, cost of living, employment rate, shops, health, green spaces, security… We have compiled around thirty criteria to determine the best municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants in which to settle with the best quality-value ratio. price.
Chaumont, the prefecture of Haute-Marne, known for its international poster and graphics festival, comes first. “It is one of our agencies with the most activity and transactions,” immediately confirms Yann Jéhanno, president of the network of 700 Laforêt agencies. Unemployment rate falling (and already lower than in France), reduced travel time to work, rich cultural life, low cost of living (6th in our ranking of cities where to live for less)… town on the Langres plateau ticks a lot of boxes. Bordered by forests, the town is rather young, a sign of its appeal. It also targets tourists and is preparing to welcome its first 4-star hotel.
Characteristics that we find in Haguenau (Bas-Rhin, 2nd), with a very low unemployment rate (4.7%). The town of Sébastien Loeb, the largest in Alsace, benefits from an immense forest and remains close to Strasbourg (30 minutes), whether by train or car. While the treatment offer is correct and the town collects labels (forest, sport, tradition, etc.), real estate prices are a little higher there than in Chaumont.
“The town hall is working to revitalize the center. Before the rise in rates, it was even madness, the notaries no longer followed because there were so many sales,” confides Damien Dilek, real estate agent at DI Immo Conseils, who highlights the proximity of Germany, the side nature or local activities.
To return to the old Champagne-Ardenne and find magnificent wine-growing landscapes, head to Épernay (Marne), which completes this 100% Grand-Est podium. With the lowest unemployment rate in the region, the capital of champagne, less than 1h30 from Paris by train, has the charm of a historically rich and touristic city. Houses there sell for 2,200 euros per square meter (m2), compared to 3,400 euros on average in France. However, it loses points on its medical offer and a slightly lower score than the others in the top 10 for safety. The East is finally doing well with Burgundy-Franche-Comté, represented by Dole (5th) and Beaune (10th, the “most expensive”).
The center and the Atlantic coast, a good compromise
“Cities well placed in your ranking often have the advantage of being close to large cities,” analyzes Maël Bernier, spokesperson for Meilleurtaux. They have the particularity of having a dynamic real estate market with seniors who sell to younger people. » In most, the population is increasing and getting younger. Characteristics present in many cities in the Center, Pays de la Loire or on the Atlantic coast, omnipresent in the top 20.
We find Niort (11th), La Roche-sur-Yon (12th), Châtellerault (13th), Couëron (14th), Blois (16th), Cholet (17th), Carquefou (18th) or Olivet (19th), nearby towns from Nantes, Poitiers or Angers. “These municipalities have been revived thanks to Covid-19, with new residents coming to settle after the epidemic,” underlines the expert, who does a quick calculation. “In all of these, you find a house of 85 to 120 m2 for around 200,000 euros, which is what a couple with 4,000 euros of income per month can borrow. »
Another advantage: the boss of Laforêt emphasizes that they are rather well connected to Paris and that they have been able to maintain a complete range of services. “The buyers understood that they had to make concessions. Those who are aiming for a house often relocate to these towns which have more infrastructure than rural towns and remain much less expensive than the metropolises,” observes Yann Jéhanno.
Niort (Deux-Sèvres), like Blois, is a good example. “We are 45 minutes from La Rochelle, Paris is two hours by train and the ocean is not far… It is a city that has modernized and rehabilitated. Over the past ten years, things have clearly improved,” observes Yannick Marc, a real estate agent who has been there for two decades.
Paca further, due to its real estate prices
Another lesson from our list: these cities where you can change your life by buying a house are spread throughout France. This is how Millau (4th, Aveyron) and Auch (9th, Gers) fly the colors of Occitanie. They will appeal to lovers of gastronomy with houses selling for less than 2,000 euros per square meter. The city with its famous viaduct is one of the most complete in France, with, in particular, the best density of small businesses.
If the climate or the distance to a metropolis are not fundamental criteria for you, Aurillac (5th, Cantal), always for gourmets, offers a solution in Auvergne. To its credit, several better marks such as an unemployment rate below 4% in 2022, very local jobs with few commutes or the number of libraries or pharmacies per capita.
Brittany places the charming, both historic and modern, Quimper (8th, Finistère) while Cherbourg (15th, Manche) represents Normandy. Paca is further away, due to its real estate prices, with Pertuis (Vaucluse, 44th), north of Aix-en-Provence. As for Hauts-de-France, present with Hazebrouck (North, 46th), they suffer in places from a lack of jobs which disrupts their dynamism.
Our methodology
We compared nearly 270 cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, excluding Île-de-France, with three main themes: the cost of living (the price per square meter of a house and the median disposable income of residents), the dynamism of economic life (unemployment rate, recent population change, creation or disappearance of small food businesses) and the quality of life (green spaces, land artificialization, medical demography, security, etc.). If we focused on large municipalities, several data used relate more to the living area or the employment area. The weight given to each of these elements in the final grade is a choice of the editors. You can adjust these coefficients and find the city in which to settle using our customizable ranking.
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