Prices Stable, Sales Up, Rentals at War

HOT OFF THE PRICE PRESS….

Hot off the Chambre de Notaires press is the latest report on Paris property prices — stable with dynamic activity as of the end of February.

For the last year, the prices of existing properties in the Ile-de-France have been stable: 0.0% (5,260€/m2 for an apartment and 290,000€ for a house). There was a bit of a drop in the Ile-de-France (-0.3%) and the Grand Couronne (-2.2%) with increases in Paris (+ 0.9%).
   
In Paris, the price per square meter of resale apartments amounted to 8,000€ in February 2016. According to the Paris notaries and according to prices from the preliminary contracts of sale, the price per square meter in Paris is unlikely to change in the coming months (0% in three months or 8,010€ expected in June 2016. The annual change could be +1.5%.

See the full report (in French) by downloading the Prie Report PDF.
 
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THE WAR ON RENTALS WAGES ON…

Two new Senate amendments under consideration could further tighten regulations on the rentals of tourist homes. Berlin has declared war on rentals via Airbnb and Paris may follow suit by hardening their tactics and incorporate more of France. With these amendments, all landlords, without exception, must declare their seasonal rental activities.

Until now, only owners renting a second home were required to declare their activity to the city. Primary residences were not subject to any declaration as long as rentals did not exceed four months annually accumulated.

If this amendment are voted in, all tourist rentals will be traced. Assistant to the Mayor of Paris in charge of Housing, Ian Brossat, is licking his chops. (Brossat is a member of the Communist Party. His own grandfather was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union, so we know where he stands on property ownership!)

Potentially, the registration requirement will also allow the city to improve the collection of tourist tax organized in accordance with the Airbnb platform (€4.6 million was raised in Paris in 2015!). Since this past week, platforms such as Homelidays and HomeAway are engaged with the city to collect the tax.

A second Senate parallel amendment puts constraints on platforms which promote primary residences leased more than four months per year. One detail that is important, because in Paris and in cities of over 200,000 inhabitants, seasonal rentals must obtain a change of use permit if they want to rent beyond this period (almost impossible to acquire and very expensive). In Paris, this authorization involves transforming an office space into housing.

It’s a Catch 22 because housing is housing and commercial space is commercial space. The property must have commercial usage designation to be legal, but used illegally for housing!

Opinion: The authorities are very confused, indeed, and meanwhile, all parties are suffering (owners and renters) from these non-sensical regulations which benefit no one…except perhaps the hotel industry!

If you agree and haven’t already, sign our petition!

A bientôt ,

Adrian Leeds
The Adrian Leeds Group

(photo by Erica Simone)

Respond to Adrian: [email protected]

 
P.S. House Hunters International will sometimes re-air episodes I’ve taped for them. Now they have posted some of the full episodes to their site so that you can view them at your leisure–with no commercials! Please have a look at A Taste for Paris.