Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, one of the most beautiful villages in France, in the Hérault hinterland (Archives) -

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  • The real estate agencies of Hérault note a rush of city dwellers towards the hinterland.

    They are almost all looking for the same thing: a house with a garden.

  • It is, according to them, a consequence of the crisis and the successive confinements.

  • This arrival, however, has an impact on the prices of goods: they are soaring.

In the Hérault hinterland, the houses are leaving like hot cakes.

“In fifteen years, I have never sold so many, is astonished Frédéric Laborie, manager of five agencies, including one in Clermont-l'Hérault and another in Gignac.

In ten weeks, since the beginning of January, alone, I have made fifteen sales.

And there are 28 of us at the agency.

"

These buyers, seduced by the charm of the Hérault townships, landed from all over France.

But, essentially, large agglomerations.

“From Lyon, from Paris, and even from Montpellier, underlines this real estate professional.

Some people from Lille contacted me yesterday.

And it is, unsurprisingly, houses with a garden that are the most popular.

“They want an outside, sun,” says Frédéric Laborie.

" Something is happening "

Christelle Gaudron, who works within the Pic Saint-Loup agency in Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, has, for her part, more recently dealt with cases of Montpellier, “who were in apartments in the downtown ".

They too have fallen for "small houses, with exteriors, with budgets of 250,000 to 350,000 euros," she confides.

There are a lot of demands ”on this type of product.

And if the exodus to the sunny countryside has always existed, this boom has undoubtedly, continues Frédéric Laborie, a "relationship with the crisis" of the coronavirus: "Does the fear of Covid-19 make them pass the step? to buy, because they say to themselves "All in all, we may not be anything tomorrow"?

Do they take the money out of the banks to buy?

I don't know, but what is certain is that something is happening.

"

Towards a surge in prices

For Christophe Joulié, director of the Saint-Benoît agency, in Aniane, “this craze for the hinterland” is one of the consequences of the crisis.

"People have been confined to the cities, and today they are looking for a quality of life, hence this exodus to the countryside", he confides.

And, continues this real estate professional, “there are a lot of buyers and few properties for sale.

This risks pushing up prices ”.

This is already the case, according to his colleague, Frédéric Laborie.

“Of course, it made the prices soar,” he continues.

Products that did not sell, or with difficulty, around 200,000 euros for example, are now selling for 215,000 or 220,000 euros.

"

Our dossier on the Hérault

At Pic Saint-Loup, Christelle Gaudron also points to the price boom, caused by the exodus of Parisians and Lyonnais.

“They are driving up prices in the region,” she laments.

They sometimes buy above the market price, and unfortunately that keeps the prices high, completely delusional.

These are people who have sold large apartments, or villas, in the Paris region, where the price per square meter is higher than here, and who arrive with greater purchasing power than the locals.

"

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