Latest French Property Price Report

The Notaires de France have recently released the latest review of the French property market and house prices in France over the last three years. In many parts of France, prices have remained fairly static but, in the Occitanie region, there has been a gradual but, nevertheless, upward trend in house prices, most significantly in the Ariège and the Gers.

Overall in the last year, the Notaires’ report shows that, overall in France, house prices rose on average by 1.4%. In the Ariege it was 11.8% and the Gers 10.2%. The Haute Garonne, in contrast, fell slightly, by 1.3%. The figures of course hide all sorts of regional variations and reflect a certain re-balancing of the market in this region, where there was a former disparity in prices. The Haute Garonne also saw large house price rises in the last decade fueled by the demand for property in Toulouse, hence the Haute Garonne index is skewed by these figures. Details in the table below.

  2014 2015 2016
Ariège  -4.7% +4.1% +11.8%
Aude  -5.5% +1.4% +10.2%
Aveyron  -2.1% +1.6% +0.8%
Gard  -2.8% -0.4% +2.1%
Gers  -2.1% +1.5% +10.2%
Haute-Garonne  -2.2% +0.8% -1.3%
Hautes-Pyrénées  -4.4% +3.1% -2.1%
Hérault  -4.5% +1.3% +3.9%
Lot -2.2% +1.5% +2.2%
Lozère  -4.4% -0.7% -12.1%
Pyrénées-Orientales -6.0% +0.9% +3.0%
Tarn  -0.8% +1.9% -4.7%
Tarn-et-Garonne  -0.3% +1.3% -0.2%

There are also indications that the upward movement of prices has continued so far in 2017, with the report showing that, in the first quarter of the year, house prices outside of Paris rose by 1.9%, compared to 0.3% in the same period in 2016.

What does this mean for foreign house buyers in France? Well it is still a buyer’s market in this region, especially with the uncertainty of Brexit hanging over us but the Euro economy is finally showing positive results and the French economy looks to be hugely boosted by the election of Macron and his subsequent strong majority following the legislative elections. All of which suggests that French house prices are likely to continue their upward trajectory and French property may not, in the future, be the bargain it once was so, if buying a house in France is your dream, now might be the time to make your mov

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