France Property

Across the whole of the overseas property market, agents and developers are being forced to drop their prices, offer free extras and more generous term to potential buyers in order to attract interest in the properties they are selling. One place that this doesn’t seem to be occurring quite as much as elsewhere is France, where some projects are still in such demand as to have construction started early and where off-plan sales are still exceptionally strong.

Of course, this is not true across the board, and there are areas of France where property prices are declining, interest from overseas investors has dried up and the prospects for the market picking up in 2009 are looking increasingly slim.

As with any investment opportunity in the current economic circumstances, property overseas needs to be able to be as efficient as possible for the buyer – in terms of letting ability, viability as a second or permanent home, and for selling on at a later date.

Add to this the fact that all airlines are currently under increased economic pressure, and it makes sense if you are looking to buy in France to consider locations which are easy to reach via the extensive rail network across the country. Rail travel in France is alive with contradictions – local trains often seem to run on little or no timetable, most of the rolling stock is old and unreliable. On the other hand, the TGV network is the pride of the French railways and the envy of Europe. The high-speed trains are very rarely late, technologically-advanced, and provide rapid, easy transport between cities. In contrast to flying on most low-cost airlines, traveling by TGV is one of the most pleasant ways to reach your French destination.

Once you have made it to Paris on the Eurostar (the closest the UK comes to a TGV-style system), some destinations can be reached without even changing trains. Eurostar operates a winter ski train heading directly to the Alps as well a summer service to Avignon in the south, allowing UK visitors direct access from St Pancras to their destination in France. However, outside of these seasons, the French TGV system is but a short hop across Paris on the métro.

And then we come onto the properties in France that are bucking the trend for discounts. The important thing is that they should be usable for the full year, instead of the more seasonal properties that have been popular in other parts of Europe. This means either being in as location that is visited across the year, or in a city that has rental prospects for the full 12 months of the year.

The Alps are particularly well set up for year-round tourism. It doesn’t automatically follow that property in a ski resort will be a great investment for summer rentals as well, but in the case of the Alps, the local tourist organizations have spent time and money on making sure a full range of summer activities are catered for.

Perhaps it is partly for this reason that projects like Les Ecrins Etoilés, a small development of 65 apartments within three chalets built on the site of a former garage in the heart of the village of Samoens, has sold 60 per cent of the properties before building has even started. The project is being built using traditional stone masonry techniques from the seventeenth Century and local forest timbers.

The other option to make your property in France work hard for you is to look at investing in a city apartment. Immediately, thought will turn to Paris, but even with the current price reductions seen in all European capitals, it is still expensive for the properties on offer. At one of the major TGV stations in France, Marseille offers an exciting mix of city living and Cote d’Azur relaxed lifestyle, and with the development work that is going on in the city, should be a great investment for the future.

Marseille’s location, with beaches, the old port and its daily fish market, and the hills behind, provides the backdrop for a city adapting to the modern age. La Canebiere, the city’s main street, and home to the busy Marche du Capacins, has recently been dug up for the installation of new tramlines and the whole port district is undergoing a facelift. This makes the renovation of the original buildings, designed by France’s pre-eminent architect Haussman, particularly attractive, as they are situated in the heart of the city. The redevelopment of these buildings is delivering high-quality living to the city, at prices significantly less than in Paris. Prices range from 3,600 to 4,500 per square metre on the Rue de la Republique, putting the cost of an average two-bed apartment on the Rue de la Republique of 82m2 at 295,200 (approx. £276,500). On the Quai de Jolliette prices are from 5,000 to 6,000 per square metre (two-bed apartment of 73.47m2 facing the sea, 411,432 or around £385,500).

Pauline Felward is an expert in the field of Overseas Property, with expertise specializing in real estate markets around the world, such as France. Find out more about property in France and get impartial advice about property abroad, from Pauline and other experts at BuyAssociation.