RMC INFO. Despite the risks of erosion and submersion, seaside real estate is booming.

Seaside real estate continues to sell very well, even though it is exposed to the risk of erosion and marine submersion. This is what we learn from a report by the association Consequences and the startup Callendar, which estimates that one million plots of our coastline are exposed to the risk of erosion and marine submersion.

But the consequences of these risks are already being seen. This year in Finistère, in Treffiagat , faced with the retreat of the coastline, seven houses, directly threatened by coastal erosion and marine submersion, were bought by the community to be destroyed. We could see more and more cases like this in the next 25 years with the increase in extreme weather events and rising sea levels.

And yet, this isn't stopping buyers. Far from it! According to the Conséquence association, over the past four years, more than 30,000 plots of land directly threatened by 2050 have been sold, despite the risk. And above all, according to Sylvain Trottier, the study coordinator, they are selling at a good price.

“It's really the extreme seaside that's overvalued by real estate today. On average, it's 26% more expensive than properties a few hundred meters away,” he emphasizes.

If these properties are more expensive, it's because there's demand. This is what we can see in Grau-du-Roi, in the Gard department. It's a town built on a strip of land between the Mediterranean and the lakes. It is threatened in two places by coastal erosion. And according to this report, 621 homes that were sold between 2020 and 2024 will be at risk in 2050.

And yet, when you talk to the new owners, this risk seems too remote to be a concern. Thierry, for example, bought an apartment about a hundred meters from the sea a year and a half ago. “The beach nearby, the pine forest behind… A dream. But hey, we didn't think about erosion, it wasn't one of the criteria. We knew it, but it didn't bother us. I don't think it's an immediate concern, there's still time,” he emphasizes.

Buyers are therefore aware of the risks at the time of sale. Since a 2023 law, the risk of erosion must be mentioned at the time of purchase. The risk of marine submersion has been present since 2003. But Isabelle Vallérian, a real estate advisor in the region, notes that this doesn't deter buyers.

“There are a few who talk about it. And for many, it doesn't go much further. They know that the sea is likely to rise. But then, quite honestly, it seems a long way off, and we tell ourselves that we have time to enjoy it,” she points out.

Many elected officials are already considering the issue of adapting the coastline to future coastal risks. Each region has its own challenges, and solutions must be considered at the local level. Along part of the Mediterranean coastline, coastal erosion is feared, while we already know that the departments of Vendée, Charente-Maritime, Loire-Atlantique, and the Nord will be most exposed to the risk of temporary submersion.

Municipalities are already developing strategies tailored to their territories, such as building sea walls to break the waves. But all this comes at a cost, and these municipalities don't feel they receive enough financial support from the state, as Robert Crauste, mayor of Grau-du-Roi and vice-president of the National Association of Coastal Elected Officials, explains.

"We're sending coastal towns back to their own punishment, and we don't accept that. It's just a double punishment because at the same time, we have to work on the vitality of our coastal towns, maintain daycare centers, schools... So if I have to devote my resources to the transition of my coastline, I find myself in difficulty," he insists.

Alongside other mayors, Robert Crauste is campaigning to obtain the creation of a financial fund from the State to support coastal towns in their adaptation to global warming.