French Property Market Analysis - 1st Quarter 2022

To sum up our French Property Market Analysis this first Quarter of 2022, Sales are up, Demand is up, Prices Are Up, Properties are Scarce ... There are some big changes happening in the French real estate market according to a recent report published by the Chambre de Notaires in Paris.

Property Sales Are on the Up

At the end of November 2021, the cumulative volume of resale property (excluding new builds/new flats) transactions over the last twelve months in France reached 1,201,000. Sales volume continues to increase year on year, up 17.5%.

This annual increase remains significant but lower than sales recorded in August 2021 (+23% yearly), post ‘early’ lockdowns. The volume of resale property transactions seems to have “plateaued”, yet it could still reach the 1 million and 1.1 million sales in the coming months.

With COVID and historically low mortgage rates, the French have accelerated their real estate plans and investments in their home country, as have people in many other places around the world. And if this phenomenon was primarily fuelled by city dwellers moving to the countryside or smaller towns, it remains to be put into perspective against the overall volume of sales.

In the country, excluding Paris/Ile-de-France, prices are rising faster, up 8.8% between the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2021. Likewise, since the start of 2021, up by 9.4% over the year and stronger than apartments/flats (+7.5).

Unusually, in the greater Paris area, prices of older properties are on an upward trajectory too, with +4% between the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of last year. This increase is more accentuated for house prices (+7% yearly, after +6% in the second quarter and +7.3% in the first quarter) than for apartments (+2.5% yearly, +2.4% and +3.6% previously).

Early 2022 Market Analysis

The projections based on preliminary contracts in France at the end of February this year suggest a continuation of yearly price increases; from February 2021 to February 2022, prices should go up by 5% for older apartments and 10.1% for older houses.

These projections highlight a continued upward trend towards medium-sized cities and towns such as Angers, Bergerac, Limoges, Dijon, Carcassonne, or Saint-Nazaire, to the detriment of large cities such as Bordeaux, Toulouse, or Lyon, which may have reached their peak, experiencing price stabilisation or even a slight fall for some.

Here at My-French-House.com, we confirm that the market is hot; in fact, it’s very, very hot. Properties are selling fast while prices are continuing to rise. The trend is true nationwide, with all property types, including luxury homes, while chateaux have been hugely popular in the last couple of years. We expect this trend to continue with many international buyers returning to Europe this summer, to take advantage of the attractive USD/EUR exchange rate and the much-improved travel rules.

Our Plans for this Year

Patrick JOSEPH, owner of My-French-House, says, “In almost 20 years of running this company, we’ve rarely had so few properties, it’s across the board. But we never stand still and are actively seeking new partners and agencies, while bringing in new experts and better-value services for our clients. We are also currently researching new areas of interest. Corsica has been mentioned multiple times, and we’ve recently received requests for dom-toms and for Spain.

We are starting to see new properties hitting the market, but they tend to sell very quickly. We are ‘quietly’ hoping to see an influx of new instructions in June and July during the holiday season, post-legislative elections, and the important ones post-presidential elections. To learn more about the French property market, visit the French notaires website and our comprehensive guide to the process of searching, finding, and buying a property in France.

If you are keen to find your dream property this year, contact us ideally with your wish list, budget and your dates so we can help with your property search. It’s never been more important to be prepared. As the French saying goes, “un homme averti en vaut deux”!

Source : Notaires de France