French Property Market 2008
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The first months of 2008 have been very slow for French property sales. Our Immobilier have reported low enquiry rates and few viewings. However, since Easter the French Property Market has shown some positive signs with more enquiries and viewings.
A major obstacle has been the strength of the Euro - effectively making French homes more expensive for UK buyers. However, a growing number of potential buyers in the French Property market, have accepted (reluctantly) the new exchange rate. Our opinion is that the 1.45 euros to £1 of 6 months ago is a distant memory. We do NOT expect it to recover to the old rate this year.
Last year the market rose about 4% nationally with some hotspots such as Paris increasing slightly more. Early in 2008, the trends indicate that flats have increased marginally by about 0.5% but re-sales of houses have dropped. We are already seeing properties in France being marketed at more realistic prices.
French Property Market 2008 - the future
We are confident that the French Property market will hold up better than the UK market. Why?
The interest rates in France are lower, the French economy is less exposed to the “credit crunch”, and President Sarkozy via his tax changes is aiming to promote home ownership. We agree with the prediction that house prices in France will fall no more than 5%.
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robin said,
April 10, 2008 @ 1:34 pm
Interesting. How about the effects of the high Euro against the GB pound on the French property market? We run a self catering cottage and B&B in France and normally find that a high percentage of UK guests are here to view properties or check out the market. We have already noticed that enquiries, which were good, have dropped off significantly as the Euro has gained strength over the past couple of weeks. Hopefully it will be short lived and things will be back to normal soon. What is the perspective on this particular aspect from the point of view of French property sales?
site admin said,
April 11, 2008 @ 8:24 am
We do not believe that the pound will claw back against the euro signifcantly this year. We think that many buyers are accepting the new rates and Easter has been busier than Jan to March. However, although end of March and early April activity is better - it is down on last year.