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Holiday Home-Buying

Volume XV, Issue 28

As the official summer season is upon us, as of tomorrow (Bastille Day), when France begins to think of itself as “on vacation,” the real estate industry is scrambling to complete their transactions and ride out the summer with little to do until “La Rentrée” when the new work year begins. We have all been very busy getting the purchases and sales complete before tomorrow when we will be picnicking and enjoying the fireworks.

Agencies, buyers, sellers and Notaires will all head for the beaches, the hills or their travels beyond their home turf to take advantage of summer and the low work period. Meanwhile, foreign buyers who make this their vacation spot, aren’t deterred, as this is also their time to reflect on making a property purchase. But that doesn’t coincide with life on the European plains. I’ve had to explain more than once that their summer vacations in France are the worst time ever to look for properties — since none of the key players are to be found and the inventory of property is at an all time low.

Still, that being said, those properties on the market at this time are there because the sellers seriously need to sell them NOW and bargains can be had at this time of year. That doesn’t make it easier, though, since completing a transaction will be more difficult working around the fact that so many offices will be closed.

Variations in Notaire indexes

I am headed to Nice this coming Tuesday for five weeks in the south of France, just like the French who take their long “séjours.” This is the first time in all these years that I’ve succumbed to the tradition of letting it all go, or at least a part of it. Being in Nice doesn’t mean I won’t be working! “Au contraire,” I expect it will be just as industrious as usual, with a peppering of beach time and an excursion here and there to get to know the Riviera neighborhood better than I already do. There is so much to discover in this part of France and even though I have a second home there, there has never been enough time to really fully explore it or meet more of the Americans living there.

Median Sale Prices in France

As readers, you will benefit from my time there as I report my findings. We have several clients purchasing property in Nice and in the other nearby enclaves. Americans are finally discovering, too, how desirable this part of France can be for a second home. Prices are half of what they are in Paris and the stringent rental laws not yet applicable.

Prices per meter in France

The Chambre de Notaires offers a part of their official website in English and reports on property prices all over France. In their last report from earlier in the year, the sales of older properties continued to rise, showing that the market is buoyant thanks to low mortgage rates and continuing tax breaks. Prices are rising across the country, and in particular, in the other major cities of France:

        – between 1% and 2% in Reims, Dijon, Nice and Tours;
        – between 2% et 5% in Rennes, Toulon, Aix-en-Provence, Lille, Montpellier, Nantes, Grenoble, Besançon and Brest;
        – more than 5% in Lyon (+6.2%), Strasbourg (+6.8%) and Bordeaux (+11.2%).

Changes in volumes of older properties

“In Nice, over a period of 15 years, we see that the most expensive properties are concentrated along the coastal strip, henceforth on the section of the Promenade des Anglais between the Negresco and the Saleya market, the heart of the city center and the harbor district, Mont Boron and the Col de Villefranche. The trend in the graph does not however necessarily reflect a fall (or rise) in prices in absolute value in the districts in question, but points to the districts where price rises (or falls) are observed in relative value, from one district to the next. If a property has maintained its value over the past 15 years, whereas has increased and exceeded that level in other districts, it is shown in a lighter shade in the graph.”

Ratio median prices for expensive properties

Download the pdf to read the full report.         

If you are planning on being in or near Nice, even if just for a few days while “en vacances,” do not hesitate to contact me. A seaside glass of rosé sounds delightful.

A bientôt and happy holidays!

Adrian Leeds - Paris, France by Patty Sadauskas

Adrian Leeds
The Adrian Leeds Group

(by Patty Sadauskas)

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House Hunters International - Two Bedrooms in Paris

P.S. You have another chance to see “Two Bedrooms in Paris,” the latest episode of ours to air on House Hunters International. Watch it or set your DVR for 7/14 at 10:30 pm ET or 7/15 at 12:30 am ET. Don’t miss it!

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