Spotlight on Les Yvelines
A département in the outer suburbs of Paris in the Île-de-France, Les Yvelines plays host to small, smart towns sought after by senior executives and well-off families in search of a lovely green setting. From the flagship town of Versailles to Saint-Germain-en-Laye or Louveciennes, the property market here consists of substantial houses and high-end apartments.
Lying to the east and south-west of Paris and crossed by the Seine, the département of Les Yvelines benefits from a strategic location enabling its residents to reach the capital easily. Its property market is lively, on the rise in some highly-prized areas, as explained by Frank Sylvaire, CEO of Paris Ouest Sotheby’s International : “The most highly sought-after towns in Les Yvelines are Versailles, Saint Germain en Laye, Châtou and Le Vésinet, but also smaller towns on the N13 or linked to Paris via the A14 or A13. Depending on the property, prices range from 5,000 to10,000 € per sq. metre. These towns mainly attract a clientele comprised of French families looking for more space, actively employed couples, and a considerable number of senior executives working in La Défense, easily accessible on the RER or from the A14. The presence of international schools also attracts a foreign clientele, increasingly drawn to these small, quiet towns near Paris. In the centres of Versailles and St Germain en Laye, prestigious homes are legion, notably offering some very beautiful apartments and new high-end developments”.
With lots of desirable assets, Versailles, the star of Les Yvelines, is highly coveted by well-off families already living in the département, but also Parisian families impressed by its art of living and enchanting setting. According to Karine Desachy, a consultant with Emile Garcin : “Versailles is the town of the Sun King, with five stations, reputable schools and lots of shops. A town with a very pleasant lifestyle, and the greenest in the outer suburbs, with hundreds of square kilometres of woods and forests. Versailles posts lower prices than Boulogne or Neuilly for those wanting to live at the gateway to Paris in a natural setting. The average price bracket in Versailles is 7,000-8,900 € per sq. metre. You also find outstanding properties here, bourgeois houses with high-quality appointments and prestigious 18th-C. mansions. We recently sold a superb apartment in a town mansion in Versailles, at the entrance to the park and Château, priced at over 4 million euros”.
