Thursday, November 27, 2008

Riviera will weather storm - and there's still lots to buy

An 82sq m (883sq ft) three-bedroom apartment in Villefranche with a large private terrace and garden for €564,000 is the best value property on World Homes's books at the moment, says MD Bernie Ennis
A one-bed 70sq m (754sq ft) apartment on the seafront at Eze-sur-Mer costs €687,000
A 250sq m (2,691sq ft) three-bedroom villa, Villa Nicole in Villefranche, costs €3.7m. It has sea views and comes with a separate studio.

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FRANCE: THE CÔTE d'Azur is better positioned than most places to weather the global financial crisis, according to a recent seminar held there by French real estate surveyors JHP Valuation, says Paul Ryan of World Homes Investments. Although the market there is slowing down, it is still outperforming other regions in France, partly because it is protected by foreign investors.

Cap Ferrat, Beaulieu and Cannes are currently the prime spots on the Riviera, according to World Homes, an Irish agency which sells high-end new and second-hand homes along the Cote d'Azur.

And there is a lot to choose from at the moment says the agency's managing director Bernie Ennis: "You will pick up a pièd-á-terre quite easily, with lots of vendors willing to bargain." World Homes has a range of properties for people looking for second homes or investments ranging from apartments costing from around €400,000 to villas from €2 million to €30 million from St Jean Cap Ferrat at the eastern end of the coast over to Cannes, Antibes and St Tropez.

www.worldhomes.ie

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times