Record sales in the French property market

The latest property market report reveals that the French property market is on the up with record sales and increasing prices, especially in northern France

Record sales of French property

The French property market is on the up according to the latest report from the Notaires de France. The number of French property sales during the 12 months to the end of June 2017 reached a record high of 921,000, exceeding the 819,000 recorded a year previously. This figure is remarkable, especially when compared with the 691,000 transactions that were recorded in February 2015, the 652,000 sales in February 2013, and 564,000 in August 2009 at the height of the crisis. The increase in sales is thought to be in part attributed to the general fall in property prices seen since 2008.

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House prices are booming in several northern French cities

The largest increase was recorded in Caen, capital of Calvados and a popular gateway into France for ferry-travelling Brits, where house prices (excluding new-builds) rose by 15.6% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2017 to reach an average of €213,000.

Average house prices also reached €213,000 (an increase of 10.6%) in Chartres, a cathedral city in the heart of one of France’s most productive agricultural areas. Reims, the unofficial capital of the Champagne wine-making region, has seen a house price increase of 9.6% to €205,000, while in the industrious city of Amiens in Somme, prices have risen by 8.8% to reach an average of €155,600.

Amiens also recorded the biggest increase in apartment prices among the northern cities (up 10.9%). Lille was the only northern city where house prices went down (by 1.9% to an average of €177,800). Apartment prices in Lille, however, rose by 3.7%, reaching an average of €2,970/m².

Southern French cities are also seeing property price increases

Prices in the south also rose in the second quarter of 2017. Once again, Bordeaux recorded the biggest increase in both house and apartment prices – house prices were up by 9.8% year on year to reach an average of €300,000, while apartments were up 12.1% to an average price of €2,650/m². Toulouse and Marseille both recorded an increase of 7.2%, while apartment prices in Toulouse rose considerably more than in Marseille (3.3% compared to 0.6%). Although house prices fell by 6.5% in Montpellier, apartment prices rose by 7.6%.

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