According to a quarterly report just released by the Fédération Nationale de l'Immobilier (FNAIM), French property prices increased by 8.3 per cent between March 2005 and March 2006. However, this was a significant slowdown compared to the preceding 12-month period, when French property prices increased by 13.6 per cent. Moreover, although the number of sales increased by 4 per cent between March 2005 and March 2006, the last three months of that period witnessed a significant drop off.

One of the French property price sectors to show a marked slowdown was apartment sales in and around Paris, and despite the average price of an apartment increasing by 7.9 per cent to 5,651 euros per square metre, the capital's rate of price growth still lagged far behind the rates enjoyed by other key French cities.

At the other end of the scale was Pau, in Aquitaine's Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. Here, apartment prices increased by 17.7 per cent between March 2005 and March 2006, to 1,956 euros per square metre.

In general, though, the picture is positive nationwide, with the FNAIM statistics revealing that French property prices in almost every region increased by over 10 per cent in the last 12 months, with Normandy, Brittany, and Aquitaine the top performers. Of these three, according to a recent VEF report, Aquitaine has the most expensive average property prices, at 234,962 euros; Normandy was the cheapest at 168,056 euros. Also showing strong price growth was the Gascony area, which covers approximately half of the Aquitaine and a third of the Midi-Pyrénées.

Robert Monk of Gascony Property, while agreeing with FNAIM that Gascony is a hotspot, feels it is such an extensive area that generalisations should be avoided. "The Gascony property market is very localised, so some areas are definitely hotspots while in some overlooked pockets prices are stagnating or even decreasing", Monk reports. "Property prices in areas around budget airline access points, like Pau, and northern Gers, especially around Condom, showed the strongest growth", he continues. However, Monk does feel that these increases are generally for properties costing 250,000 euros or less. "There are too many properties on the market for more than 250,000 euros, typically renovated properties, which means that they are overpriced compared to supply." Pat Monk adds that a slowdown in the French economy and the resultant need for some French property owners to liquidate some capital has "led to an influx of small properties onto the market typically costing up to 150,000 euros".

For those eyeing a renovation project, she advises that "artisans' costs and prices have gone up hugely in recent years, so this must be factored into your calculations". All of which goes to show once again that statistics only tell half the story.

Read the latest French Property Bulletin ezine FREE

Search for French property

Related articles about French property:
The diversity of the Midi-Pyrenees draws Brits
Marseilles shakes off its rough image
Burgundy and Loire Valley explored

For further information about French property:
Fédération Nationale de l'Immobilier
Gascony Property 

Article first published in May 2006