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 According to figures released in October 2007 by FNAIM (the French estate agents’ federation), prices for resale property failed to rise in the third quarter of the year.
This is big news: in the period 1997–2007, French property values rose by some 142 per cent. But in autumn this year, for the first time in a decade, figures dipped down below the growth line, registering a 0.9 per cent drop for the third quarter 2007.
The French press have, as you might expect, gone into orbit over this news (sadly, bad news sells more newspapers than good). Meanwhile, property agents and experts steadfastly refuse to acknowledge a drop in value across the board (well, they would, wouldn’t they?).
FNAIM president René Pallincourt qualifies these figures by pointing out that the French property market tends to be quiet in summer.
He also suggests that the market has been in a state of “attentisme” (in other words, holding its breath, sitting on its bum and scratching its head), waiting to see what new French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s promises and proposals in terms of tax breaks for new home owners would actually mean.
It is the value of French resale apartments which is under the spotlight right now: their price fell by 1.7 per cent in the period July – September 2007, while house prices remained stable.
Experts continue to predict growth in French real estate values for the year 2007 as a whole, citing a figure of around 5 per cent for resale properties of all types.
Watch this space in January 2008, when FNAIM will announce its figures for 2007 and French property investors will see whether 5 per cent was an accurate estimate, or proverbial pie in the sky…
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