It’s an anniversary like no other that Caen is preparing to celebrate in 2025: its 1,000 years! However, there is no question of resting on its (millennial) laurels, the former industrial city of Calvados, located half an hour from the beaches, has decided to turn into a model city for executives in search of additional square meters and economic and cultural opportunities.
This is how the third places welcoming start-ups, researchers, students and associations – such as the Moho, near the station, the Dôme, on the peninsula, or the Wip, on the banks of the Orne – s are now imposing in the landscape. Enough to reinforce the attractiveness of this Norman town… and weigh on the real estate market. “The shortage of goods remains tangible in all types of housing”says Stéphane Bisson, director of an Orpi agency in Ouistreham.
The research focuses mainly on the hypercentre or the sectors close to the tram line and the university. But all of Caen has been combed through by buyers looking for a house with a garden, or an apartment with a terrace still for sale.
Unsurprisingly, the cost of real estate continues to rise. In five years, it has increased by almost 25% on average, according to MeilleursAgents. “Except in very working-class neighborhoods like Grace-de-Dieu, Pierre-Heuzé or La Guérinière, you can’t find much for less than 3,000 euros per square meter, and, in the inner city, you’re close 5,000 euro”confides Mr. Bisson.
+ 5% in one year in new buildings
Despite already high prices, the city still lends itself to rental investment. With its five university campuses and forty-six research units, it brings together nearly 2,200 researchers and 35,000 students. The average profitability of a T2 in the old is estimated at 5.4% by MeilleursAgents.
“However, the market risks seizing up with the entry into force of the measures governing the rental of laws Climate and resilience [2021] and Energy-climate [2019]. Because most of the housing dating from the “reconstruction” [conséquence des destructions subies pendant la seconde guerre mondiale] are energy sieves and the owners often do not have the means to do the work”, notes Thomas Bouvet, manager of an agency Century 21 in Caen.
On August 25, 2022, the rents of housing whose energy label displays F or G must be frozen everywhere in France. And at the start of 2023, the most energy-intensive properties (annual consumption exceeding 450 kWh per square meter) can no longer be rented.
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