French property prices have failed to rebound since the start of la crise, while the political uncertainties of François Hollande’s government coupled with the current whiff of scandal surrounding the president are doing little to aid recovery, reports The Financial Times.
A lethal combination of timid buyers and intractable sellers means prices rose just 0.8 per cent in 2012, according to the French Real Estate Federation (FNAIM). In 2013, amid rising unemployment and concerns over tax hikes for high earners, FNAIM reported a 2.9 per cent fall.
There is, however, one bright spot in the French property market. International buyers, who have been propping up prices in central London since 2010, are now casting their eyes across the English Channel.
In Île-de-France, the region which includes Paris, prices are up 6.7 per cent compared with 2007, according to FNAIM. In the adjacent Nord-Pas-de-Calais regions prices have increased 3.7 per cent. Top-end property values in Paris, meanwhile, are up 14 per cent since 2008, according to a study by Investment Property Databank.
Susie Hollands, founder of property agency Vingt Paris, believes that the price rise is thanks to an influx of overseas buyers. “Many wealthy people have left France,” she says.
“That has stimulated a flood of interest because there are heritage properties coming on to the market which have never been sold before. I also think that Paris is the type of place which never goes out of fashion. Paris is undervalued compared to prime central London and I am starting to have investors say they are priced out of London.”
Read more of this report from The Financial Times.