The prudent French banking system seems to be paying off with finance still available (even at 100%) and a rise in house prices of 2.8% over the last six months (although a drop of 7.8% if you take the last 12 months.....lies, damned lies & statistics eh).
The source of these nuggets is the FNAIM and you can read a fuller report here.
Of course, as any estate agent will tell you, it's the number of transactions that is the key indicator rather than the vagaries of price. This is why many agents are still struggling and thousands of staff have been laid off throughout France. I don't know of any agencies in this region that are hiring again yet.
It seems to me that there is still a steady trickle of international buyers looking to purchase property in France but that many more are still waiting in the wings. It's not a case of "if" this trickle will turn into a stream but "when".
Timing is always crucial in the property market - if any of us knew the answer to this for sure we'd be millionaires but I do have a hunch that Spring next year will see some of those currently vacant high street shops having shiny new agence immobilier signs being hung up over the door.
www.cognacproperty.com
No comments:
Post a Comment