Second homes are not on the rise in the Basque Country. It is the least we can say. Residents are no longer able to find housing, which fuels the anger of associations. Tiles had even been removed from the roof of the family home of Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire in July 2022.
This time, it is a Basque house of almost 350 square meters perched on the heights of a typical village of the Basque Country, Ayherre, which crystallizes the tensions. It is listed at 1,495,000 euros, or more than 4,000 euros per square meter, and a potential buyer has already positioned herself on the property and made an offer at 1.37 million euros. She is well known from the Arberoa LurraEtxebizitza collective.
Residing in the United States, she wishes to acquire a second home in the Basque Country but this is not the first time that she has positioned herself on a property in the region. She fell in love with a renovated farmhouse in Saint-Esteben, in August 2023, priced at 1.27 million euros. Demonstrations took place in front of the farmhouse to oppose the sale. “She contacted us and we talked. We explained to him our reasons, the situation in the Basque Country. She told us that if she had known, she would not have positioned herself», says Philippe Saint-Aroman, of the Arberoa LurraEtxebizitza collective, at South West .
Purchased in 2018 for 250,000 euros
The Californian resident ended up retracting her statement. But this resignation was short-lived. Less than a year later, she became interested in another high-end property in the Basque Country, an old 18th century farmhouse with swimming pool, which provoked the anger of opponents of this “speculative sale”. They ask the buyer “to renounce the acquisition at a price unrelated to the real value of the property and inaccessible to the inhabitants of the territory”.
Is the property really displayed at a speculative price or at a market price? Prices per square meter in Ayherre tend to be around 3200 euros for a house and not 4200 euros, as here. The good would therefore be higher than the market price. However, work has been carried out to completely rehabilitate the old farm, which may explain an increase in the price. The energy performance diagnosis (DPE) is excellent, B, which can also enhance the property. But not in such proportions, according to the municipality.
“This is an off-the-shelf price. The house was put on the market last December for 1,600,000 euros. We reacted with astonishment and expressed our emotion to the seller three days after seeing the ad. The seller bought it in 2018 for 250,000 euros. Here, houses sell for between 300,000 and 500,000 euros, never more, even if this house has character. We are meeting prices that are practiced on the coast, it is incomprehensible», exclaims Arño Gastambide, the mayor of Ayherre, to the Figaro. “We try to maintain land at an accessible price for everyone, hence the astonishment of the town hall“, he says.