House prices in France

[Nightynight]

are they rising fast or slowly? Does anyone know a good website to monitor them?

I think it is very region specific. Fairly quickly here (in the pas de Calais) but not UK-style quickly.

I suspect that things will be picking up around now - apparently the market was very quiet whilst people waited to find out what was going to happen in the election. Mind, we were told that by some friends who were selling and managed to sell before the election very easily.

www.frenchentree.com has got quite a lot of stuff about property prices from an expat perspective.

hi,
I also wondered if there would be a Sarkozy effect, but if he doesnt get his majority, maybe he wont be able to do much?
anyway, in the UK, it was cynical manipulation of the housing stocks as well as the 2 wage effect, and I dont see that happening in france.

thank you for the link, I will check it out.

The rise in prices is deemed to have slowed, but it's all fairly relative, since at one stage they rose over 40% in one year in some areas.

God only knows what effect Sarkozy will have, in spite of his being so outspoken and seemingly upfront. A lot may depend on how hard he comes down on public sector workers, who are already struggling to enter the property market. And if there's mass striking and demos, as some are threatening, that might have an impact too.

Magazines like the Nouvel Observateur and the Figaro colour supplement usually have an annual issue devoted to this: might be worth checking their websites as I don't know when the last ones came out.

get the local paper from the area you want to live - plus check estate agents www sites

I still havent decided where to go!
just need to keep tabs on the whole situation. Have read a lot of estate agents sites, but dont feel Im getting the full picture yet.
Ill try the nationals for special articles. [shudder] at 40% pa rises.

It's terribly local. And I often think that the British and the French just have very different taste in housing - French seem less keen on old/charm/character and more on modern convenience. So if you have British taste, you can buy for less than average.

We're in the market for a house outside Paris and three studio flats inside, and I can't believe how expensive modern is and how cheap old.

Old is right up my street

Im likely to be looking near Paris, but will have to go outside the city (want a big garden, anyway)

Am just worried I wont be able to afford anything. Do you know if French banks ever lend more than 3,5 x salary? Or does the Abbey these days, for that matter?

If you read French, take a look at \link{http://www.meilleurtaux.com\Meilleur Taux.

EU interest rates have been going up for a while and they look like they will continue to increase. That means generally house prices in France will be going down for a while. There is a delayed effect, which has already started to show.

I would wait for a year or two.

Do a search for French house price index. VEF is a good company and Creme-de-Languedoc are also good.

thank you for the links!
Must start reading real news again

Have a look at the notaires site for general idea of house prices. fnaim.fr

Toulouse, woman, come to Toulouse. Or Neuilly - I like Neuilly!

hi ggg, thank you for the link
If cote d'azur is right about house price trends then it may make sense to wait for a job in toulouse rather than try and go for the first job going this summer - I will be doing a lot of reaearch and watching Sarkozy's economic policies. I have decided to get some french grammar tuition for the children in the meantime, to ease the move - extra lessons, they will love that.
dd1 has just got bogging nits again, and ds1 has a nasty vomiting thing that is going around.

Neuilly is bad for international-type schooling. Excellent if you want very French Catholic schools. Also it's a modern suburb designed around car transport, so not good for children getting about on their own - they have to be chauffeured everywhere, you have to drive to the shops, etc.

I don't know anything about mortgages here.

Versailles isn't bad if you want space and independence for your children. Though the mindset is not for everyone (not for me).

Saint Germain-en-Laye has excellent Lycée International and good public transport to Paris.

Hi Anna, we were in Neuilly last week and I was impressed by how village like it seemed and the to-kill-for houses with huge gardens - just a metro ride from central Paris. I know nothing about international schooling in Paris.

I would love to live in Paris (with a house by the sea in Arcachon for the holidays and a little house in St Lary for the skiing).

Hi ggg - yes, there are some lovely old houses still in Neuilly... at a price. But I don't go for the mindset, the huge, horrible, impersonal apartment blocks, the motorways (avenue Charles-de-Gaulle and boulevard Bineau) running through it OR the schools. My stepsons live there and we are just across the border in the 17th arrondissement and I prefer it a million times over. Plus our public transport is miles better.

Ooh - to hijack a bit, do you mean St Lary Soulan in the Pyrenees? We are going there for a week in the summer - is it really good? Would like to ski there too but our holidays and the Pyrennean ski season don't conincide.