french property benefits from increasing luxury affordability
News Posted On: 03 February 2010
Property in France "could be" more affordable than it has been for many years according to the international version of the UK's National Association of Estate Agents.
After stating that, while the global crisis has made things difficult for those involved in the French property industry, that it had benefited from the realistic prices and more conservative lending practices over the preceding few years.
"French property is likely to be the most affordable for many years. Property prices are now at a more reasonable level of affordability and are set to continue stabilising in the coming months," he said.
"It is still a buyer's market and confidence is very much apparent. Good quality properties in great locations are always highly sought after."
Looking across the board at French property prices, the increased affordability exists only in the higher end of the market properties worth over 500,000 a lot less so than properties over 1million etc.
France main property market (excluding high end) has always been one of the safest and most stable markets, and has always benefited from higher affordability because of the realistic prices mentioned above. For that reason -- as we predicted in 2008 -- there has been little in the way of a price correction in the lower sections of the French property and housing markets. Lifestyle buyers have continued to buy throughout the high point of the crisis, not least because cash became a high-risk asset class for a while and many people put their savings into property.
The higher end of the market is a different kettle of fish, having bore witness to the massive speculation that plagued the prime market in London and other sought after locations around the world.
France's high end sector then suffered immensely from the reduced (well, more like the eradication) of demand from those made wealthy by banker bonuses and stock market returns. Both of those buyer groups began to get active again in the latter part of last year, but this has not yet to blatant speculation with regard to property prices. So, in this area affordability is indeed a lot greater than in the last few years.
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