"Real estate and cozy living: affordable cities in Occitania"

French newspaper "Le Parisien/Aujourd'hui en France" ranked the cities where real estate is affordable and good to live. Among them were two cities from the Occitanie region....

Occitania, with its beautiful bricks, arcades and comfortable living... And real estate that remains affordable in some medium-sized cities. (©Illustration by Fabien Isbak - Actu Occitanie) This ranking may come as a surprise. It lists cities where buying a house is still possible without wealth, but where it is also good to live. It is a kind of compromise between quality and price, which of course highlights the medium-sized cities in the whole of France. Credit goes to the newspaper Le Parisien/Aujourd'hui en France. In their October 1, 2023 issue, they named 270 cities with a population of more than 20,000 people in this ranking, which takes into account about thirty criteria. They took into account, of course, the cost of living (price per square meter, median income per capita...), as well as economic activity (unemployment rate, creation of commercial enterprises...) and comfort levels (green areas, medical demographics, security...). All these lead to certain grades. And in this game, the champion is Chaumont, in the Haute-Marne department, which tops the ranking with an average score of 13.85. Occitanie leaves a strong impression.

Here's a ranking of Occitan cities with their scores:

• Millau (Averon): 13,12
• Osh (Ger): 12,70
• Rodez (Averon): 12,47
• Kastr (Tarn): 12,04
• Montauban (Tarn et Garonne): 11,69
• Muret (Haute-Garonne): 11,62
• Tarbes (Upper Pyrenees): 11,25
• Albee (Tarn): 11,24
• Carcassonne (Od): 11,20
• Bezye (Ero): 10.77
• Narbonne (Od): 10.60
• Him (Gar): 10.57
• Lunel (Ero): 10.57
• Kolomye (Upper Garonne): 10.25
• Tournefeuille (Upper Garonne): 10.44
• Blagnac (Haute-Garonne): 10.83
• Frontignan (Ero): 10.37
• Castelnau-le-Lez (Hérault): 10.25
• Perpignan (Eastern Pyrenees): 9.88
• Ales (Gar): 9.77
• Toulouse (Haute-Garonne): 9.72
• Montpellier (Hérault): 9.67
• Agd (Ero): 9.41
• Set (Ero): 9.25

The best density of small shops in France is in Millau! For the newspaper "Le Parisien," the Occitan equation is simple: in Auch and Millau, you can satisfy food lovers by offering real estate at a price below 2000 euros per square meter. The newspaper also notes that "the city with the famous viaduct is one of the most complete cities in France, especially due to the best density of small shops."

Video: latest news on Actu. The newspaper also reminds us that nine out of ten French people want to live in a medium-sized city, according to most surveys on this topic. This clearly does not reflect reality; otherwise, Toulouse or Montpellier would have been in crisis a long time ago... This is a habit for Rodez. Both metropolitan areas in the region also rank very low, likely mainly due to the real estate market, which has become unaffordable for most people. We note that Aveyron also appears twice in the rankings, including Rodez, on the edge of the Top 20. Tarn also has decent results with Albi and Castres.

Ariège, Lot, and Lozère are forgotten. It is also worth noting the absence of cities in Ariège or Lozère, which is due to the choice of ranking structure. In Ariège or Lozère, it is relatively easy to find housing and live well, but there are no cities with a population of over 20,000 people. Additionally, Cahors (Lot), which has a little over 20,000 residents, did not make it into the ranking.

Stay updated on all the news from your cities and favorite media outlets by subscribing to Mon Actu.