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April 2007
French property market figures have recently been published by FNAIM* (the French estate agents’ federation) and Nouvel Observateur magazine**, so we thought we’d pull out the most salient facts and figures, to give Crème de Languedoc visitors some essential information about French property prices and the state of the market, from an overseas buyer’s perspective. So, in a nutshell:
French property prices increase for tenth consecutive year
French property prices have now been rising for over ten years, and are still doing so; France remains a safe investment, compared to the high risk, “here today, gone tomorrow” emerging markets that can tempt investors.
French property prices continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate
The rate at which French property prices are rising has been slowing down since the end of 2004; the French market as a whole is not offering the double-digit growth of the period 2002-2005, although it continues to grow at a respectable rate (FNAIM predictions for market growth for 2007 are 3-7 per cent).
Languedoc and south east France trumps the south west
Some French regions offer better-than-average capital appreciation. According to FNAIM, the south east (i.e. Languedoc and PACA*** combined) was showing a year-on-year increase in value for the 1st quarter 2007 of 6.1 per cent. Compare this to (say) the south west (Midi-Pyrenees and Aquitaine) and its rate of 1.1 per cent.
Languedoc cities show better-than-average growth
Although the percentage of capital appreciation for France as a whole has now fallen beneath the double-digit barrier, certain Languedoc cities continue to show more than healthy growth – Perpignan (10 per cent year-on-year) is a prime example, with Béziers, Carcassonne, Sète, Montpellier and Nîmes all putting in strong performances.
Perpignan trumps Provencal cities for capital growth
Of the six southern cities profiled by FNAIM in their latest report, only Perpignan hits double figure appreciation, with prices up 10 per cent for the 1st quarter 2007, putting French Riviera destinations such as Cannes and Nice firmly in the shade.
CITY PERCENTAGE GROWTH 1ST Q 2007
| City |
Growth Rate |
| Perpignan (Languedoc) |
10% |
| Nice (PACA) |
9.6% |
| Pau (Aquitaine) |
6.4% |
| Marseille (PACA) |
6.0% |
| Cannes |
5.7% |
| Biarritz (Acquitaine) |
5.5% |
Languedoc apartments – a good bet for capital growth
Languedoc cities continue to offer very good capital growth over a sustained period. Agents are always happy to quote good-looking figures as soon as they are released, but how can buyers know if this is a flash in the pan, or a confirmed trend? Crème de Languedoc has combed the FNAIM figures for the resale apartment market for the period 2000 to year-end 2006 and found that for the five Languedoc cities listed, not only do they put in a good performance in the most recent year-on-year time frame, but all show extremely good growth over six years. Take a look:
| City |
2005-2006 |
2000-2007 |
| Béziers |
7.9% |
12.5% |
| Montpellier |
5.2% |
14.7% |
| Nîmes |
5.0% |
14.6% |
| Perpignan |
8.9% |
13.4% |
| Sète |
10.5% |
16.3% |
*Lettre de conjuncture issued April 2007 www.fnaim.fr
** Issue dated March 22-28, 2007 www.nouvelobs.com
*** The region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
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