The Île de Ré — an idyllic outcrop of golden sandy beaches, vineyards and pine forests, which many locals and tourists traverse by bike — has long been a playground for wealthy Parisians. But during the pandemic it took on a new level of popularity. In the days leading up to the first lockdown in March 2020, there was gridlock on the 2km-long road bridge that links it to La Rochelle on the mainland, as French families fled to their holiday homes.
The island’s permanent population of 17,000 swelled by somewhere between 3,000 and 5,400, according, respectively, to the Charente Maritime police and the mobile phone company Orange. And property prices have been rising ever since. Le Bois Plage, in the centre of the island, has had the highest rises, at 32 per cent year in the year to May, according to figures from Christie’s International Real Estate based on the median price per sq metre.
Real Estate Credit Investments Limited (LON:RECI) is a closed-ended investment company which originates and invests in real estate debt secured by commercial or residential properties in Western Europe, focusing primarily on the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
