Bouches-du-Rhône Property For Sale

Is Bouches du Rhône France’s best kept secret? Can any other département offer so much yet be so seldom mentioned? For too long the cognoscenti of Provence property hunters have kept Bouches du Rhône property to themselves!

Named after the ‘mouth’ of the Rhône as it meets the Mediterranean, the Bouches du Rhône delta has simultaneously irrigated this fertile landscape of olive groves and vineyards and inspired the Provençal literature of Marcel Pagnol and the art of Van Gogh and Cézanne. The area is steeped in ancient history with Roman remains everywhere you look.

Bouches du Rhône boasts an intoxicating mix of climate (300 days of sunshine per year), the spectacular natural beauty of the Alpilles, the Camargue, the Calanques, the exquisite ‘city of a thousand fountains’ Aix en Provence and France’s second largest city and international transport hub Marseille. All this and Paris is just 3 hours away by TGV.

No surprise then that some Bouches du Rhône property is among the most expensive real estate in France – yet the laid-back locals (often only a generation away from Pagnolesque peasants who tilled the fields) are signally unimpressed by any flamboyant displays of wealth.

The most expensive property in Bouches du Rhône is in Aix-en-Provence, followed by the Alpilles, Arles and Salon de Provence. There remain a few typical provençal ‘mas’ (sprawling farmhouses) to restore but they tend to be found outside the most sought-after rural areas such as the Alpilles. Smaller stone houses in need of renovation can, however, still be found in many villages.

All Bouches du Rhône property lies within an hour of either the large international airports of Marseille and Montpellier or the smaller airports of Avignon and Nîmes. There are TGV stations at Avignon, Aix and Marseille.

* To give you a handle on Bouches du Rhône property values we’ve included the 2019 figures for price per square metre in the main cities and towns. This is a useful yardstick but, unlike apartments in cities, valuing country houses on this basis is not so straight forward as there are so many more variables such as the amount of land, condition of the property, precise location etc.

Marseille property prices in 2019: between €1600/m² and €7200/m² depending on district, size and condition. The ‘Gateway to Europe’ is now only three hours from Paris by TGV and more and more Parisians are choosing to spend their weekends and holidays here. Modest Marseille property can meet the needs of students in the academic year and holiday-makers in the summer months.

Cassis property prices in 2019: from €3800/m² for an apartment and from €4600/ m² to €11,100/m² for a house. This picturesque fishing village in the Calanques Natural Park is a much sought-after property hot-spot. Cafés and restaurants line the quayside, offering views of the colourful boats in this sheltered harbour, from where one can hop on boats to several of the calanques (rocky coves) along the coastline. There is an attractive little beach to one side of the harbour and the town behind bustles with fashionable shops and boutiques. Marseille airport: 50 mins. Aix-en-Provence: 50 mins. La Ciotat is another pretty harbour town about 20 min east of Cassis. La Ciotat property prices can be as little as half those in Cassis.

Aix en Provence property prices in 2019: from €3400/m² for apartments and 6800/m² for houses with gardens. Aix-en-Provence, the honey-coloured ‘city of a thousand fountains’, is perhaps Provence’s most elegant and cultural town. Property is predictably expensive. Only an hour from Marseille and from the beach at Cassis, Aix has outstanding year-round rental potential, both from French and international clients. The large student population fuels the studio rentals market. Some of the surrounding villages, set in stunning scenery and overlooked by the Mont St Victoire, are a little less expensive. Marseille airport: 30 mins. Beaches at Cassis: 50 mins.

See our dedicated Les Alpilles Property pages for property in Saint Rémy de Provence, Eygalières and Maussane les Alpilles.

Arles property prices in 2019: houses between €1900/m²and €3800/m² and apartments between €1500/m² and €3100/m². Starting in the west of the region, Arles is rightly associated with its rich Roman history with its impressive arena and Forum, but it is increasingly becoming known for its modern-day culture with the Fondation Luma art centre and a renowned Festival of Photography. Prices are rising here as a result so buyers should think about getting into the market before prices rise too much further. In the bustling town centre, a highlight is the huge market selling everything from clothing and homewares to street food and dozens of types of olives, Moroccan spices and fresh local produce. Prices are still reasonable for beautiful town houses (hôtels particuliers), and just outside, villas with pools offer good value for this region. Arles is known as the gateway to the Camargue and its great expanses of marshland and its amazing wildlife: white horses, pink flamingos, Camargue bulls for example.