Fewer Foreign Buyers: Americans Only 2.1% of the Total!

Headlines in property news the last week or so report a loss in foreign buyers on the French market for 2015, although Paris doesn’t seem to be suffering, even after the November terrorist attacks. Adrian Bishop of Opp.Today first reported about 10 days ago from The France Show in London that Briton investors were showing signs of support for France, rather than shunning it.

The annual event has increased in size and the message they are spinning is that the attacks have had no negative impact on the market, at least for the British, who continue their love affair with France. Of course, economics play a major role in this sentiment, with property prices at a low, the rate of exchange at a high for the sterling and interest rates on mortgages staying at an all time low.

Britons tend to favor the countryside, contrary to Americans who favor urban areas. The France Show overwhelmingly under-represents Paris — shocking from past experience I’ve had at the show.

(See the entire article at opp.today/french-property-demand-rises-after-paris-attacks/)

In a more recent article by the same journalist in Opp.Today, as well as The Local reports on a loss of sales by foreign buyers in France as much as from 1.4% to 1%, but Paris is seeing increases, as per a recent report (in English) by the Chambre de Notaires de France. While the foreign market has been stable for about 10 years, January is already seeing increases, with Britons, Italians and Belgians making up 60%, followed by Americans, Algerians and Moroccans.

Britons still remain the biggest group of foreign buyers across the board making up 32.6% of the total, but sales to foreign buyers have dropped by as much as one-third in the last 10 years. The years of 2006 and 2007 saw as much as 2.8% of the sales to non-residents.

The mix of foreign buyers changes with regions — the British favoring central and western France. Italians are the next largest nationality with 15.3%, followed by Belgians with 11.1%. Paris is most popular with Italians at 20%, followed by Americans with 8% and then Britons with 7%.

Prices are still down in Paris, but less so and new-builds are contributing to the increases. For a city suffering a housing shortage, approvals on new-builds is welcome.

(See the entire articles at opp.today/paris-bucks-trend-of-falling-french-foreign-property-sales and thelocal.fr/20160125/france-property-foreign-buyers-shun-french-property-market)

More news from the Chambre de Notaires de Paris:

The Chambre de Notaires de Paris issued their Winter Report this week, claiming prices up across the board for houses as well as apartments as of the end of October 2015.

As of January of this year, the Notarial taxes imposed on a purchase have increased globally from 5.09% to 5.8%.

Upon placing a property on the market, a “mandat de vente” outlining the agency commissions is signed between the seller and the agency. Should the buyer wish to pay the fees in lieu of the seller, reducing the selling price on the final deed and thereby reducing the notarial taxes and fees based on the selling price, a new mandat (a “mandat de recherche”) must be signed between the buyer and the selling agency.

Download the entire Ile de France PDF Winter Report (in French).

Download the entire France PDF Winter Report (in English)..

A bientôt,

  Adrian Leeds
  Editor, French Property Insider

  Email: [email protected]

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