The French Property Market has suffered after the Security, Financial and Political turmoil in France over the last 18 months…
- Security was a concern in 2015 / 16
- Financial markets were on a roller-coaster
- BIG Political question marks hung over us
HOWEVER: “After a very bullish year in 2016, sales of older properties continued to rise, totalling 867,000 for the previous twelve months at the end of February 2017 (against 805,000 twelve months earlier), up 7.7% over one year.” (Notaires de France)
The market has shown encouraging signs in the past year and a half, and that trend seemed to accelerate the closer we got to the election. The Cote d’Azur, Provence, Paris, and the Alps in particular have seen a significant increase in the level of enquiries and demand remains very strong due to a combination of:
- Lower prices
- A strong US dollar
- Record low interest rates of sub-2%, with banks willing to lend
- And an improved economic outlook for France and the Eurozone
Most analysts believe that Macron’s welcome landslide win will consolidate the positive trend.
He has promised to reduce some of the taxes for property owners including:
- Scrapping ‘taxe d’habitation’ completely
- Making changes to capital gains tax which will release more properties for sale
- Dramatically reducing wealth tax
- And simplifying levels of administration, including rental contracts
All good news for the property market, and for owners.
A final point worth mentioning is that international buyers are already encouraged by President Macron’s determination to see a strong and unified Europe, and more and more of them will begin to see their dream of owning a little piece of France becoming reality.
A Word of Caution:
Mr Macron has brought HOPE where previously there was little, but as stated in a recent article from Credit Agricole (a bank and an insurer):
“Mr Macron’s win has restored France’s standing – and in record time. Investors are already coming back, particularly the Japanese, who have a reputation for caution. This goes to show that the miracle is truly staggering. Macron has had a real effect on markets, but as the weekly “Le Point” proclaims on this week’s cover: “No more excuses”. Expectations are running high, things look promising, and the advance publicity is wild – but there can be no question of backsliding or disappointing. To return to a growth path, France must display its innovation-led culture and turn its back on corporatism.”
