Investors eye ‘literary france’

A famous region of France is becoming popular with young families, claims one expert…

Immortalised by the book ‘A Year in Provence’, the property market in the Luberon region of France has "increased by four to five times in the past 20 years and doubled in the past eight," says Emmanuel Garcin of the Emile Garcin estate agency.

He explained: "Twenty years ago, it was an American and British elite who wanted to buy. Then, in the early 1990s, they started to come in greater numbers - first, looking for second homes and then, more recently, people wanting their permanent residences here. With the excellent transport links we have, younger families can live here and work abroad."

“What keeps the property market more buoyant even than the rest of Provence is that it is enclosed in a regional park. New building is almost unheard-of and you cannot buy large parcels of land. The Luberon has a 20 per cent mark-up on anything bordering it and the locals say that, while 20 years ago property prices throughout the valley were similar, today it is the prettier, more "authentic" medieval villages that have surged ahead”.

“For younger families - certainly the way the Luberon is going - the Centre of the world is Lourmarin, briefly home to Albert Camus (he is buried in the local cemetery) as well as dozens of writers, artists and lovers of Provençal chic".