The sporting life
Why Monaco’s sporting calendar and active lifestyle opens up exciting opportunities.
It's a golden motor racing year in Monaco with not one but three Grands Prix in the principality in 2024. The 7th annual E-Prix was first out of the grid, followed by the biennial historic Grand Prix and then the Formula 1 Grand Prix, one of the most eagerly anticipated sporting events in the international calendar and one that adds true spice to owning a home in Monaco.
“The extraordinary backdrop of Monaco’s Formula 1 race, the city and the sea, is unique and what makes watching it in person so special,” says Edward de Mallet Morgan, head of international super prime sales at Knight Frank. “It’s the same for the Monte Carlo Masters, the annual men’s tennis tournament that attracts the world’s top players. Spectators are so close to the action while also enjoying the magnificent Mediterranean Sea setting.”
Sports and the Monaco lifestyle are finely entwined with the Monégasque royal family setting the pace. Prince Albert is a five-time Olympian in bobsleigh, his wife Princess Charlene is a former Olympic swimmer and a myriad of world-class sportsmen and women, racing drivers, tennis players, cyclists and golfers, choose Monaco as their base. The sporting appeal does not stop at international level. Monaco’s supreme climate and coastline and the encircling countryside mean that residents of all ages enjoy year-round cycling, sailing, tennis and golf.
“After tax considerations, the lifestyle is the main reason people chose to live in Monaco and sports play a pivotal role in that lifestyle,” confirms de Mallet Morgan. “Since Covid, the wider lifestyle benefits of Monaco and the South of France have become more crucial to buyers. A recent client whose son started at Monaco’s football academy could have gone to Paris or the UK but chose Monaco for the lifestyle. It’s a superbly healthy base with an exceptional setting, facing the sea, backed by the Alps with the French Riviera one way and the Italian Riviera the other and all within two hours of most European capitals.”
When global instability pushes people to consider safe havens, Switzerland and Monaco top most clients’ wish list says de Mallet Morgan. The changes made this year to the UK’s non-dom tax status produced an immediate increase in enquiries from clients. While the severe shortage of homes in Monaco for both sale and rent remains an issue, some new, top-quality housing is being introduced.
“Authorities in the principality have known for some time that its property offering fell short of what high-net-worth-individuals expected and could find in New York, London and Paris and have worked on repurposing buildings and reclaiming land,” says de Mallet Morgan. “Look at Mareterra. It is a transformational reclamation project that completes next year where, despite being the most expensive real estate project in the world, almost everything sold off-plan and resales have reached up to €100,000 per square metre.”
These new properties are matched by improved facilities, new international schools for example, broadening Monaco’s appeal to young families. Smaller apartments and studios are now less attractive: the highest demand, for both rental and sales properties says de Mallet Morgan, is for homes with three or more bedrooms.
“Monaco has tightened rules on anyone using the principality solely as an address. Now, if you want the benefits of Monaco, you have to live there and we’ve seen an uptick in the number of families relocating,” says de Mallet Morgan. “Monaco’s private schools were becoming oversubscribed, so a new British School opened up last year to cater for the increasing demand.”
A three bedroom apartment in a new building in La Condamine (pictured above), a prime and long-established neighbourhood that takes in Port Hercules and parts of the Formula 1 circuit, is for sale at €10,950,000. Exterior Art Deco-inspired curves and wrought-iron balconies give way to a contemporary home of 152 square metres with two private parking spaces.
Further west in an elevated location in Jardin Exotique, a three bedroom, three bathroom apartment in the Les Ligures building is on the market for €19,800,000. The residence has panoramic sea views from its wide wrap-around balcony, private parking and use of a communal swimming pool, tennis court, fully equipped gym and on-site concierge.
Good communal facilities like these, or sports facilities nearby, are increasingly in demand with active-minded buyers says de Mallet Morgan. In Monaco the Rainier III Nautical Stadium has an Olympic-sized open-air swimming pool right on the harbour, open from April to October. The seawater pool, with its diving platforms, flumes and mini slides, is another firm family favourite.
Buyers who want more space than Monaco’s premium market can provide should look across the border to the South of France, where a six bedroom detached villa 20 minutes from Monte Carlo (pictured above) is for sale at €3,900,000. The handsome classical home, overlooking Eze, has private gardens with a swimming pool and is close to a local tennis club. It offers privacy and wonderful views and would be ideal either as a weekend retreat for someone living in Monaco, or as a holiday home for Europeans.
“Many of my clients with homes in this region take every opportunity to leave London for extended periods,” says de Mallet Morgan. “They book flights to Nice to travel the same day that schools break up for half-term and holidays. Even in February half-term, temperatures on the Cote d’Azur are generally in the high teens, providing excellent opportunities for an active sport-focused life and access to this entire region is so swift.”
A love of sport determines requests for homes in many locations: cycling in the Balearics, Alpine exploits in Switzerland and France in summer and winter, equestrian pursuits right across Europe. Austria combines opportunities for all these sports as well as the chance to watch its annual Formula 1 Grand Prix and Vienna offers a central base to mix sport, culture and elegance. Modern apartments in a newly restored classical building in the 1st District, priced from €2,795,000, provide airy open plan living with good on-site sports facilities, an extensive spa and wellness area.
“Austria is a favourite destination for triathlon training, a chance to escape built-up roads and exercise among beautiful lakes and Alpine countryside,” concludes de Mallet Morgan. “Buying a home there, and in Monaco and southern France provides the opportunity to watch top-level competitive sports and also the chance to work-out yourself, whatever your level. We’re all aware of the importance of a healthy, outdoor lifestyle for mental and physical health. It’s the ideal escapism from a busy life.”
