Nice is Nice…Property Prices are Up and Rentals are Scarce

NICE PROPERTY PRICES UP ALMOST 15%!

We are not surprised. Real estate prices in Nice have risen by 15% in recent years. While most major French cities saw a rise in property prices in June, Nice escaped this trend with a slight drop.

Two specialists in the field, SeLoger.com and Meilleurs Agents, have published their traditional real estate barometer. Published in July, it covers several periods, including the first half of 2024 and the change observed in June.

Among the points highlighted by the two groups, there was a slight increase in amounts in France’s ten largest urban areas, including Nice, in June (+0.2%). This means we’re back on an upward trend, as since January 1, the dynamic has been rather the opposite (-0.3%). On a longer-term scale, it’s no surprise that prices have soared over the past five years (+14.8%).

What worries the experts, however, is that transaction volumes are in freefall. As of April 1, 812,000 sales had been concluded in the country, and this total is set to continue declining, falling below 800,000 by the end of August. In practical terms, this means that inventories of goods are piling up, a consequence showing that rates and prices have not fallen sufficiently.

The market in Nice often differs from that in other major French towns. This is also the case here, since unlike most of its sister towns, Nice saw a very slight fall in property prices in June (-0.2%). The only other city in this situation was Montpellier (-0.7%), while Paris remained stable.

This is good news for potential buyers, who are confronted with particularly high property prices in Nice, one of the most expensive cities in France. The latest figures show an average price per square meter of 5,118 euros. As has been the case for several months now, the only major city with higher costs is the capital (9,224 euros per square meter)…Lyon (4,827 euros per square meter, +0.3% in June), Bordeaux (4,413 euros, +0.6%) and Rennes (3,973 euros, +0.8%) complete the top 5.

Observers expect buyers to take a more wait-and-see attitude because while borrowing rates should continue to fall in September, political uncertainties could disrupt the market.

If you are interested in making a property purchase in Nice or environs, contact us to get started as soon as possible! Visit our website for more information about this service.

Special note: When we have the opportunity to share the commission with a selling agency, we credit our client with that amount which can easily save the buyer about 2.5% of the price of the property!

DESPERATE FOR RENTAL PROPERTIES IN NICE

In Nice, everyone is desperately looking for rentals, including US!

In three years, the volume of rental properties in Nice has plummeted by over 63%. With a proliferation of seasonal and student rentals, stringent legislative constraints, and landlords’ reluctance to deal with unpaid rent…the Côte d’Azur rental market is struggling, as real estate professionals admit.

At the beginning of 2024, a study carried out by the Seloger.com website provided hard-hitting figures on this “property shortage.” In three years, rental volumes had plummeted by 61.4% in Antibes, 59.2% in Cannes, and 63.5% in Nice, a trend that has not been reversed since, according to the Côte d’Azur branch of the Fédération Nationale des Agents Immobiliers (FNAIM).

With 11 million tourists expected in 2023 (up 9% over 2022), the Côte d’Azur has confirmed its position as a major tourist destination. And this is obviously not without consequences for the properties available to locals.

It’s a conundrum. On one hand, the authorities are saying they need to put a stop to Airbnb, while on the other, the Climate and Resilience Act, focuses on energy-efficient home renovation that takes property off the market. They need to make up their minds! Aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050, this text, enacted in August 2021, has several implications for rental properties. For example, since August 2022, rents have had to be frozen for substandard properties whose Energy Performance Diagnostic shows an F or G score.

Faced with this law, owners of this type of property have three options: keep the property as a principal residence, with no obligation to carry out any work; put it on the long-term rental market, and to do so, comply by renovating it; or dedicate it to seasonal rental, with no obligation to comply. And everything is now based on the existing market of properties. The new-build market has ground to a halt for several reasons: the Covid-19 pandemic had already put a stop to a lot of construction. Added to this is the Zero Net Artificialization law, but also the announced end of the Pinel scheme on December 31, 2024.

Aimed at boosting rental investment, this allows individuals buying new homes dedicated to rental to benefit from a reduction on their income tax. These types of schemes have been around for 38 years. “If we stop them all, we’ll be making housing the forgotten issue of this five-year term,” warned a real estate agent.

This lack of available rental properties has made our job even more difficult…but not impossible! Our agents in Nice have been successful for our clients in spite of the limited inventory. Keep in mind, that if you are moving to Nice seeking a rental property, you may have to settle for something not as perfect as you’d like, just for the sake of having a roof over your head!

To learn more about our service, visit our Custom Rental Search page.

GETTING A MORTGAGE IN FRANCE

Unfortunately at this time, our Mortgage Broker, Simon Conn, has no lending sources in France for American-based applicants unless the purchase price/valuation is either a minimum purchase price of €400,000 with a minimum loan of €300,000 and a maximum of 70% loan to value.

For non-American based applicants, the minimum purchase price is €300,000, with a minimum loan of €200,000 and maximum of 70% loan to value (max 80% LTV if over €400,000).

If you are under the age of 60 and salaried, your chances of getting this kind of mortgage are best! Be sure to contact us to learn more. For more information, visit our site.

A bientôt,