Eure et Loir Property Insight

Overview

Eure et Loir is one of the French departments, located in the Centre French region. The prefecture of the department is Chartres. The French administrative division accounts for 421,114 inhabitants and is located within 1h30 from the French capital city.

Eure et Loir is often praised for the diversity of landscape and many activities offered. Formerly a favourite place for the king and its mistresses, the modern department is a peaceful place blessed with many natural assets such as rivers, ponds, lakes and forests, the two main natural areas being the Perche and the Beauce. Perche is a still wild natural area when the Beauce is made up of very large fields. Historically, Eure et Loir has been linked to Ile de France and its political and economic climate. For instance the agricultural production is the main source of food for Paris, local apples and cider being renowned as well.

When it comes to property, the area has much on offer as well. Plenty of mills and farmhouses can be found at inexpensive prices. The demand for property is stable and this rural heaven of peace next to Paris is an ideal holiday destination for weekenders for instance.

Eure et Loir Immobilier & Property Market Trends

Property in France cost in 2008 about €3,200 / sq m. This is an average figure and in the neighbouring Paris, French property prices are often about €6,000 / sq m and even more. Eure et Loir is a very inexpensive alternative to this, offering property at €2,430 / sq m. However property in Eure et Loir, but closer to Paris, is generally dearer because of that. Generally speaking, property in the Centre region of France costs €2,159 / sq m. Within the department, the towns of Nogent le Rotrou and Chateaudun are the most inexpensive when it comes to property, combining both apartments and houses.

Purchasing an apartment in Eure et Loir costs €1,910 /sq m on average. Studio flats cost and 1-bedroom apartments are the most sought-after and on average cost €2,280 / sq m. Interestingly, larger apartments cost less / square metre. Thus a 4-bedroom apartment will cost €1,710 / sq m as an average price.

All these data are interesting to know as renting property in Eure et Loir is a successful business. Buy-to-let projects are also important, and rental opportunities actually exist. The clientele is that of Parisian weekenders willing to rest in the countryside but not far from Paris, that of commuters or simply people who spotted that the area is ideal as it combines the assets of rural and urban areas, along with a great location in France.

To get updated info about property prices in Eure et Loir, please browse our French Property Market Reports published in the News Section every month.

4 Reasons to Buy a Property in Eure et Loir

• Touristy assets: the department and its main town, Chartres attract quite a lot of visitors which make it a good investment area. Chartres is in the middle of the Beauce region, being a very rural and agricultural one. The French commune has a 13th century cathedral which acts as a magnet for tourists. Pilgrimages are organized as the cathedral holds relics of Saint Mary. The Beauce itself is very appealing to lovers of gently rolling hills covered with never ending fields. The street markets of Chateaudun and Nogent le Rotrou are excellent as they let newcomers and foreigners socialize with the locals and taste the local produce. Chartres also has a flower market.

• Good food: as many French regions, Eure et Loir has mouthwatering food specialties. These also contribute to the touristy success of the area and local art de vivre. The pâté de Chartres is a local recipe of paté made from venison, pork and veal meat cooked for hours, a very refined dish that is worth tasting. The Mentchikoffs sweet are specialties which were created to honour the Franco-Russian alliance in 1893. Made from chocolate wrapped in a thin Swiss meringue, this is a delight. Inside the chocolate, nuts, butter are added which give such a soft taste. The Cochelin is a Napoleon-shaped (!!) brioche stuffed with chocolate, raspberry, almond or apple jam. Its top is iced which gives it a shiny aspect. These specialties make the fame of the area and contribute to drawing visitors.

• Location – transport network: the department is ideally located, within easy reach from the French capital city. By plane, access the department through Orly (75km away), Roissy (120km away/ 2 hours drive). By train, TGV high-speed trains come to stop in Massy Palaiseau (45min away). By road, many motorways will lead you to Paris and then the northern harbour towns such as Calais. The department is also connected with all the major French cities. Well-maintained main roads are also on offer.

• Rental opportunities: Eure et Loir is a safe bet if you plan to buy-to-let or if you have a gite business project. Large properties with much style are on offer and allow much space to build rooms, a swimming pool etc. The landscape around is simply relaxing and calm, the ideal location for a clientele composed of stressed people most often. Along with this, the easy access to the area helps a lot: as explained above, accessing Eure et Loir is swift thanks to the proximity of Paris.

Local Property Market: 3 Popular Towns

• Chartres property: Chartres was named after the eponymous Gauls’ tribe. It has a rich historical, political and military past. Located at the very centre of the traditional Beauce area, the French town offers inexpensive properties and a very stylish environment (half-timbered houses, cobbled streets…). The landscapes around are also breathtaking and uphold the value of property in this area.
• Chateaudun property: Châteaudun has grown up next to its powerful castle, still standing. The town is nowadays an important agricultural area and a very touristy place as well. Indeed the ancient quarters and cobbled streets are charming and many museums as well as other venus let you discover the area.
• Luce property: accounting for 16,500 inhabitants, Lucé is the third biggest town of Eure et Loir. Located hardly 60 miles from Paris, the town offers an active social and cultural life. A sound choice for commuters for instance.

Property Styles and Architecture in Eure et Loir

The balance between natural environments and property styles is a main hallmark of Eure et Loir properties, especially in the Perche area. In the department, calcareous stones as well as other natural elements (terracotta…) are used to build traditional properties. It is also common to see clay and straw mortar walls built with a ‘rammed earth-like’ method, i.e. shaped between two parallel wood frames called forms. Wood panelling/ half-timbering can be spotted as well. A very rich region architecturally speaking thus.

• Perche Traditional Locatures: traditional Perche properties are called locatures. These properties are also to be seen in Berry, another part area of the Centre region. These small wooden, half-timbered houses were historically those of poor farmers living next to their workplace and supplied by a wealthy landowner. The roof is steeply pitched and covered with flat tiles. On the front facades, one or two dormer windows appear. The ones we can spot nowadays are often large as a renovated locature is in fact composed of 6 or 7 initial ones. They are generally fitted with an oven and several chimneys. Once restored, these properties are highly sought-after houses and excellent investment opportunities, both for rental or sales opportunities.

• Maisons de maitre properties: landlords' houses in Eure et Loir follow the classic maison de maitre layout, which is pretty massive and impressive, with symmetrical shapes and a steeply pitched roof. In the French department, they very often have brick walls or stone walls with multi-coloured bricks on the edges of walls and on the windows frames. Some have shutters painted in discreet colours such as beige or light blue. They often have dormer windows. Some of them are former farms, which is quite uncommon. One can also find a maison de maitre in Eure et Loir, without a very large garden, which is also unusual.

• Half-timbered properties: half-timbered properties in Eure et Loir are classic colombage houses: their walls are made from cob work inserted between wood panels. The particularity of some of these properties though, is that the half-timbered walls are thereafter rendered, hiding the half-timbered structure. In this case the panels are not around the cob work but inside. The interest of this technique is to provide a strong wall structure and the potential drawback (depending on your taste) is that the wood panels are not visible: the wall looks like a classic rendered wall.

Click here for more info about Architecture in the Centre region.