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The buyer's market

10th July 2008 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

France has been a curious housing market of late. While still one of the most popular places for British buyers - be they investors, second-home owners or emigrants - to purchase in, the property market has seen a recent decline in prices. Yet at the same time France has not suffered from the credit crunch in the same way as other markets, because of the low level of exposure its banks have had to the sub-prime markets in the US compared with countries such as Britain. As Reuters recently reported the governor of the Bank of France Christian Noyer saying that when it came to property finance "whatever happens, there is not the same type of risk[in Europe as in the US]".

Combine these two factors, however, and a real buyer's market emerges. Prices are falling, but deals are still available. Furthermore, it has been pointed out, the still higher prices of homes in the UK mean that the French market offers buyers cheaper prospects than in the UK.

This point was made by Les Calvert, director of overseas property agency Property Abroad. He said: "The French property market is still fairly active. There are still a lot of people searching and enquiring about property in France."

Noting that investors are continuing to go after property even in locations such as Spain, Mr Calvert added that now is still a good time to buy in France: "It's a buyer's market at the moment and people are aware of that and they know that, yes, things might be hard but if they don't buy now when things return back to normal it will cost them even more."

He concluded: "It's just knowing when that bottoming out is going to be. It's a bit like stocks and shares where you buy before the market starts to turn."

Of course, there are other factors that need to be taken into account, such as geography. Just as the UK has its regions that are performing better than others at any given time (for example, London in recent years and Scotland just now), so it is the case with France. A Citywire report on property around the continent notes that sources like the Totallyproperty.com forum and others can provide some insights into local conditions.

In the current instances, while France's overall downturn is down to the same food and fuel price rises affecting other countries, areas such as the Var have not been doing well, whereas, by contrast, Paris, Nice and the Cote D' Azur have been much more robust performers.

Therefore, as ever, the key for investors is to ensure when buying in France for reasons other than pleasure and lifestyle, careful study is needed to find where the positive trends and good long-term prospects are.

This is a press release by Assetz also available at http://press.assetz.co.uk/articles/4276.html. Alternatively, please see our full press release archive.

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