Sharp decline in sale of new build french property

REUTERS - A French Government memo out today reports a drop of 28% in the sale of new houses in france for the first quarter.

The stock of new properties for sale in france is at an all time high according to the french Ministry for Ecology and Energy.

Just over 26,700 news builds were sold in France in the first quarter, 27.9% less that the same period in 2007.

From the second quarter 2007 to the first in 2008 the number of new houses sold was slightly more than 117,000, a drop of 10.3% on the same period a year before.

From January to March  2008, 28,000 houses went up for sale, a drop of 28.3% from the previous year and 19.3% less than the last quarter in 2007.

It's also taking longer to sell newer houses. For the first time, homeowners have seen their property pass the 12 month barrier. The average time for property developers to sell is now 11 months.

Prices for new build houses in France have dropped by 1.8% as a whole over the last year.