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Since the Covid crisis, families have left the big cities to settle in the smaller towns. Medium-sized cities benefit from this, because buying a house is cheaper there. This is the case of Saint-Chamas in the Bouches-du-Rhône.
On the banks of the Etang de Berre, 50 kilometers from Marseille, is the village of Saint-Chamas (Bouches-du-Rhône). The town of 6,500 inhabitants is attracting more and more people. Yael Dziesientnik has been a new resident for ten days. She dreamed of an apartment with a small exterior far from a big city. “It was out of the question to go back to the Paris region, we wanted something calm, with a village spirit with nature, animals”, she argues. She rents a three-room apartment with a terrace for 800 euros per month, a much more affordable price than in a metropolis.
Since the Covid, small towns of less than 10,000 inhabitants are attracting. With its train station, school and community life, the calm of Saint-Chamas offers many advantages. “It’s a small village, there are lots of things, we have everything there, it’s very pleasant. With my children, I do everything bike”, raises a resident. Real estate demand has exploded, although prices have increased by 10% since the health crisis. A market nevertheless attractive for those who wish to leave the big cities.