Market report

In a bumper year for the French property market, agents are busy and British buyers are spoilt for choice

- Ruth Wood

It’s a tough time to buy a dream home in France at the moment, though perhaps not for the reason you think.

The problem – and admittedly it’s a nice problem to have – is that there is a glut of beautiful bargains up for sale, and it is difficult for starry-eyed Brits to choose between them. “They are like kids in a sweet shop with too much choice!” says Carolyn Pratt, an agent for Idimmo Prestige & Châteaux in Charente-Maritime. “There are so many properties on the market that our buyers can take their time.”

It’s true, say the experts. Ten years after the global economic downturn, French confidence has been restored and the market is flooded with properties. They’re selling too. More than a million French homes have changed hands over the past year compared with 580,000 in 2009. The sheer volume of stock has kept prices competitive, especially in the rural areas loved by Brits, while ultra-low mortgage borrowing rates have helped young people leap onto the ladder, keeping things moving.

“It has been a bumper year for the French housing market, the best year since the crash,” says Samm Khoury, manager of Richard Immobilier, which is based in Lot-et-Garonne.

Nationwide agency Leggett Immobilier agrees. “The French property market is incredibly healthy,” says chairman Trevor Leggett. “It’s being driven by a double whammy of low existing prices and incredibly cheap borrowing. This looks set to continue in 2020 and is in stark contrast to the depressed UK property market.”

ARE PRICES GOING UP?

Yes and no. Across France, house prices rose by 2.7% and apartment prices by 5.1% in the year up to October, excluding new-builds. That’s more than double the annual house price growth in the UK, which stood at 1.3% in September 2019.