“For some residents of large cities, the health crisis and its travel restrictions have acted as a revelation. The need for space and greater proximity to nature appeared to be essential in their life balance,” notes the 2021 Barometer of the attractiveness of metropolitan areas by Arthur Loyd, a national network of commercial real estate consultancy.
According to a report on the territorial economic rebound produced by deputy Jean-Noël Barrot in June 2021, and cited by the barometer, house purchases by Parisians outside the Ile-de-France region increased by 30% over one year , between the second half of 2019 and the second half of 2020. Home purchases by Lyonnais outside the Rhône department are also up 27% over the same time. However, before the health crisis, house prices in rural areas had fallen by 13% between 2009 and 2019.
The health crisis has therefore reshuffled the cards and upset the economic landscape. Teleworking, which has become established in companies, allows new mobility opportunities.
Territories hard hit by the health crisis
Some areas have suffered the economic consequences of the health crisis in a more profound way. 14 departments are struggling to regain their level of private salaried employment before the crisis, indicates the barometer. This is the case for Paris, but also for Haut-Rhin and Doubs.
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In 23 territories, salaried employment has returned to its pre-crisis level. Among them, most of the departments of the Grand Est such as Moselle, Meuse, Haute-Marne or even Vosges.
59 departments have managed to do better than before the health crisis, exceeding the employment level of 2019. Most of these departments are marked by the presence of a large urban area, such as Bas-Rhin, with Strasbourg, or Meurthe-et-Moselle with Nancy.
The appeal of medium-sized towns
Confinement, teleworking and health restrictions in their entirety have also reinforced the desire for mobility of certain urbanites. Real estate prices, high in large cities and particularly in Paris, encourage some executives to move away from their workplaces.
In Paris, the average price of a 60m2 apartment in the city center is 652,200 euros. The price is 136,200 euros in Reims, 46 minutes by train from Paris; 138,000 euros in Orléans, 56 minutes by train from the capital, or 154,200 euros in Rouen (1h24 by TGV from Paris). The most accessible of the big cities is Strasbourg, with a median price of 187,800 euros.
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And for homes, the gap is even more impressive, with prices sometimes increasing tenfold. To acquire a 100m2 house in Paris, it will cost an average of 1,380,000 euros. In Strasbourg, 278,000 euros will suffice, 206,000 in Nancy and only 124,000 in Valenciennes.
Office rents are also much cheaper in the regions, with rates up to 6.5 times lower.
53% of executives want to change region
The barometer underlines in particular the attraction of “cathedral cities”, which form a ring around the Paris region: Amiens, Reims, Rouen, Chartres and Orléans. Equipped with a direct and rapid rail link to Paris, they have several advantages: fiber optic coverage allowing teleworking, advantageous residential real estate, a rich offer of higher education.
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According to the barometer, 53% of executives plan to change region since the health crisis. Some have already taken the leap: Parisian schools registered 6,000 fewer students at the start of the 2021 school year and since the end of the first confinement, the number of conventional terminations of permanent contracts has increased by 8%.
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