Green shoots in the market as we head towards Spring  

This year has certainly started at a fair pace and it’s very definitely a growing and healthy market we are seeing. Early indications from the first property exhibitions of the year show buyers keen to take advantage of the great market conditions here in France.

Official figures back up the fact that buyers have sensed the end of falling prices and are taking advantage of the historically low interest rates to make the most of this. The French market is well and truly on the up with total sales numbers increasing by 15% in the last 12 months – the highest sales volume seen since 2008. The Notaires de France estimate that prices rose by around 0.5% in 2016 and are forecasting a rise of around 2% for apartments and 2.7% for houses in the coming year.

But where are the hot spots? Last year the most popular area for Leggett Immobilier sales was the Poitou-Charente and Aquitaine (including Bordeaux and Dordogne).  At The France Show we saw an appetite for the whole country, with a rise in interest in central and western France.  There is a big appetite from more than just UK and French clients, reports Trevor Leggett: “The combination of low prices and cheap financing has led to an increase in the number of sales to other international buyers.  

With the British housing market stagnating, we are seeing more and more British purchasers looking to make a property investment in here, and who can blame them – this is an ideal time to buy in France.”