Houses for sale in Megrine

In Mégrine, a house for sale is rarely new. Much of the municipality was built in the second half of the last century, and the villas changing hands today belong to the first generation of owners: solid houses, on plots you no longer find this close to Tunis, with a kitchen and bathroom to redo. That is what makes them appealing to a family ready to take on building work.

Listings of houses for sale in Mégrine are posted by owners, heirs and a few agencies from the southern suburbs, and you deal with them directly. Supply stays small at the scale of the municipality; to compare it with Radès, Ben Arous or Ezzahra, see all the houses for sale in Ben Arous governorate.

Mégrine Riadh and Mégrine Supérieure, the villas behind the municipality's reputation

This is where demand is concentrated. The villas of Mégrine Riadh have tree-filled gardens, garages, and often a floor added over the years for a married child. On the hill of Mégrine Supérieure, houses are a little more recent and some terraces look out towards the Gulf of Tunis. A villa in good condition in these sectors sells for noticeably more than in the rest of the governorate, and well-placed properties find a buyer without a long wait.

Some buyers are only interested in the land: an old villa on a large plot can be knocked down to build a new house or a small residence. In that case, the value is calculated from what the development plan allows you to build, not from the condition of the house.

Sidi Rezig, Menzel Mabrouk and Chaker: neighbourhood houses

On the other side of the railway line, houses are terraced, on smaller plots, and often rise to two or three levels. Many have a floor that is let, which interests buyers who want an income on top of their home. In Sidi Rezig and Menzel Mabrouk, the price of a whole house can stay close to that of a modest villa in Riadh, for a living area that is sometimes larger.

Mégrine Chaker, around the station and the Sousse road, also has older houses, sometimes mixed-use with a shop on the ground floor. They sell well to anyone who wants to live above their shop. The downside is the noise of the road and the train, best judged by visiting on a weekday rather than a Sunday morning, when the area looks deceptively quiet.

Checking an older house before signing

A fifty-year-old house calls for a technical inspection. Look at the waterproofing of the roof terrace, cracks in load-bearing walls, the state of the wiring and pipes, and test the water pressure on the upper floors. Bring an engineer or a builder along if the house is to be extended.

On the paperwork side, the land title must be in the name of the seller or sellers, with no mortgage recorded. First-generation villas are often jointly owned by heirs: each one has to sign, and an heir living abroad can delay the deed. Finally, check that added floors have a building permit, otherwise the area sold does not match the declared area.

When to buy, and how to compare

Houses in Mégrine are mostly listed in spring and viewed in summer, when families living abroad come back. A seller who has not closed by September often reconsiders their position in the autumn.

To compare with a flat or a house floor, the page of all property for sale in Mégrine brings the categories together. If you are still torn between buying and renting, the houses to rent in Mégrine show the level of villa rents, and the rare building plots in Mégrine show what a new build costs.