French Property Market Analysis - 1st Quarter 2022
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To sum up our French Property Market Analysis this first Quarter of 2022, Sales are up, Demand is Up, Prices Are Up, Properties 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.
French Property Sales Are on the Up
At the end of November 2021, the cumulative volume of resale property (not new builds/new flats) transactions over the last twelve months in France reached 1,201,000 transactions. Sales volume continue to increase compared to the previous year, with an increase of 17.5% year on year.
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 “plateaud”, yet, it could still reach the 1 and 1.1 million sales in the coming months.
With Covid and historically low mortgage rates, the French have accelerated their plans and investments in real estate in their home country, like many other places around the world. And if this phenomenon was been primarily fuelled by city dwellers moving to the country side or smaller towns, it remains to be put into perspective against the overall volume of sales.
In the country, excluding Paris/Ile de France, the rise in prices is accelerating with +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 up 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 suggests 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, Limoges, Dijon, Bergerac, Carcassonne or Saint-Nazaire to the detriment of large cities such as Bordeaux, Toulouse or Lyon, which have possibly reached their peak, experiencing stabilisation in prices or even a slight fall for some.
Here are My French House 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 French 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 wanting to take advantage of the attractive USD/EUR exchange rate and the much improved open travelling rules, with France confirming this week banning face masks on public transport from May 16th.
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 looking for 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, overseas departments such as Reunion and Martinique. 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 legislatives elections, the important ones post Presidential elections. To learn more about the French property market take a look at the French notaires website and visit our comprehensive guide to learn about 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
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