Not a Bad Life, Huh? And a Great Time to Buy, too?

I left blue skies in Paris for blue skies in Nice yesterday, where I am filming another House Hunters International TV episode — our 17th (!) and a record for HGTV as the most shows in which any one “agent” has participated. Of course, I try to make it perfectly clear that we are not to be called “agents” — that we are actually “consultants” to help the buyer make the best choices, and it is not our goal to simply ‘sell’ a property.

This filming involves a couple from California who own a thriving vineyard in Sonoma County and have now decided to enrich their lives by having a “pied-à-terre” on the Riviera. Not a bad life, huh?

Over the next few days, together with the film crew from HGTV, we will be exploring possible abodes for them located between Nice and Monaco — one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. Not a bad life, huh?

Next week I’ll tell you all about it, but for now, we just got word from the Chambre de Notaires de Paris that prices in Paris are DOWN. Is this good or bad?

In one year, the average prices of apartments in Paris are down by 1.5%. They fell 1.6% in the last quarter of 2013 and the price per square meter as of the end of December 2013 dropped to 8,140 euros.

There are big disparities among the districts. Some have increased while others decreased. The 18th arrondissement has seen an increase by 2.4%, while they decreased 6.2% in the 8th arrondissement and 5.7% in the 16th. The 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7ht, 9th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 19th and 20th districts have virtually remained the same.
 
The 6th arrondissement continues to lead the pack with an average per square meter price of 12,390€, while the 19th is still the least expensive at 6,790€ per square meter. On an individual neighborhood basis, Odéon in the 6th tops them all with 15,290€/m2 and then Invalides in the 7th with 14,890€/m2.

The Goutte d’Or and La Chapelle, both located in the 18th arrondissement, are the most affordable areas of Paris with a price per square meter respectively at 5,810€ and 6,000€.

Prices for older apartments in Paris, France

According to the Notaires, there is a slight upward trend of prices to be recorded in coming months and predict that by spring of this year the average in the city will increase to 8,240€/m2.

From what we see here, this is more a question of ‘balancing’ the values across the city rather than a price decrease. It means that the neighborhoods that have been a bit less ‘chic’ are gentrifying and moving up in value and this makes them a better investment than in those already at the top of the market. The east side of the city is getting ‘cooler’ all the time and moving up while the western more bourgeois parts of Paris are not as interesting to the new buyer.

If you need to rent and get a good return on investment, then look toward the districts which can satisfy both appreciation and good rental return. Those would be the 3rd and 4th and parts of the 11th and 12th, notably near Place de la Bastille. These are districts which continue to show increases in value while being desirable for short-term rental.

Evolution of Property Prices on the French Riviera

There are two cities in France that I’d put my betting money on for holding value and steadily increasing on the long term better than any of the others: Paris and Nice. Marseille is also up and coming in terms of appreciation, but won’t be as desirable for rental return as the other two. If you want to put your hard-earned money into a non-risk investment, that enables you to ‘park’ the money in another currency for diversification, and that is not in a foreign bank account one must report annually to the IRS…then this is where you should be looking…Paris or Nice, my two favorite cities in the world (except for perhaps my home town, La Nouvelle Orléans!).

A bientôt,

Adrian Leeds

Editor, French Property Insider & Director of The Adrian Leeds Group, LLC

Email: [email protected]

P.S. For Sale: A Pied-à-Terre on “The Island” — The Ile Saint-Louis. It doesn’t get more central in Paris than this! Situated on the street that runs the length of the island across from the Eglise “Saint Louis en l’Ile” on the first floor, this 47 square meter (506 square feet) one-bedroom apartment is full of charm and is being sold fully furnished. The asking price is 750,000€ + a Finder’s Fee of 3%. If you are a serious buyer, email us as quickly as possible to be the first to make an offer. This sale is on a first come first serve basis, so the faster you act, the better your chances: [email protected].