The days of astonishingly cheap property in the Languedoc are already gone. Encouraged by television holiday programmes and newspaper articles, foreigners have been buying up property, and pushing up prices. Until now the locals have been delighted by this. Foreigners, especially the Brits, tend to buy property that would never sell otherwise. While most "Anglo-Saxons" want a crumbling ancient picturesque stone-built farmhouse, the average local would only consider a smart, small, modern, pink, brick villa with a small garden, commonly found in modern suburban estates on the outskirts of towns. Before the flights to Carcassonne you could buy an old farm for less than the ugliest modern concrete suburban horror. But no longer. All the farms are gone, and when new ones come on the market they sell for many times what they would have fetched three years ago. Prices are well on their way to Provence.
All this has had knock-on effects. For one thing the French who laughed so much at foolish foreigners buying ruins have had second thoughts. Seeing what can be done with decaying old farmhouse has revolutionised popular opinion. Perhaps those Anglo Saxons weren't quite as stupid as everyone thought. The charm of a traditional building, hardly recognised five years ago, is now seen as a most desirable feature. Also, the rash of suburban modern pink cement villas on the outskirts of nearby towns is being halted by new planning regulation. All these trends are pushing in the same direction. If the farms have been sold, and modern suburban developments are not available, what's left?
