The Grand Paris Express is not always synonymous with soaring prices.
The stations of Bourget and La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis) show a drop in the price per square meter.
A visible flop around the future Les Six Routes station, supposed to link in three years the new lines 16 (Pleyel / Noisy-Champs) and 17 (Pleyel / Le Mesnil-Amelot) of Grand Paris to the bus and tram lines (T1 ) existing.
The future station leads the locations where prices are falling instead of rising, according to data compiled by the comparator Best Agents.
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In five years, prices in the surrounding area have fallen by 2.6% to € 2,858 / m2.
This is certainly less than the city itself where the price per m2 has plummeted by 3.7% for a price per m2 substantially the same (€ 2,887).
But this drop is surprising when we know that this future intermodal hub is located, as its name suggests, at a strategic crossroads serving Aubervilliers, Bobigny, Drancy, Le Bourget, Stains and Saint-Denis.
"We see that prices stagnate in some places which suffer from the urban planning of bars at the end of the 1950s, from this" tower "effect which is more reminiscent of a city than of a condominium, but land prices are increasing elsewhere" , explains the mayor (PCF) Gilles Poux.
"The project is still little known and is located right next to the Cité des 4,000 between the south and north tower", adds Navid in charge of the Orpi agency.
Undervalued investment potential?
In the business for seven years, this professional nevertheless remains convinced of the "strong upside potential of the sector", in his eyes undervalued.
“La Courneuve is growing more slowly than elsewhere but it will end up benefiting from the boom in real estate prices in Aubervilliers, right next door, moreover it is already starting ... Some people can no longer buy there, turn towards La Courneuve, ”he says, with supporting examples.
Last year, a 38 m2 two-room apartment located rue de la Convention, near the shops, was sold for € 3,400 / m2, or € 600 / m2 more than 800 m further north…
"In reality, La Courneuve brings together two real estate markets in one with part of the city adjoining Aubervilliers where prices are soaring and the rest of the city, close to the towers and little trade, which attracts less", summarizes Alberto Moreira.
Manager of the Century 21 agency in Aubervilliers, he has just opened an agency in La Courneuve, also certain that the market will take off with the commissioning of the new station.
Scheduled for the 2024 Olympic Games, the station should be operational "rather early 2025", according to Gilles Poux.
The Covid crisis has delayed the site where a huge crane is activated.
The station is only the first stage of a larger project providing for the construction in 2030 of more than 1,000 housing units (including 30% social housing and 5% social housing), 4,600 m2 of offices, 5,000 m2 of shops and services and public facilities (1,500 m2).
Capped prices, but historic inhabitants fear of being "driven out"
A rehabilitation of the Cité-des-4-000 district synonymous with moving upmarket?
For the regulars of the Les Six Routes tobacco bar just in front of the station, it is "obvious".
"We must not be fooled, it is a way of renewing the population, of driving out the historic inhabitants of La Courneuve for others, ready to pay higher rents, even in low-cost housing", considers Fouad, 48, heavy truck driver born in La Courneuve.
And the price cap per m2 by the town hall between € 3,200 and € 3,500 excluding taxes to access the property makes them smile.
“I am a civil servant, born here, and the bank refuses me every loan request,” sighs Laïs, 39 years old.
“Within five years, La Courneuve will be the 23rd arrondissement of Paris, behind Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers”, bets Christelle.