Third quarter was a better domestic market for French property

ACCORDING to an article on Capital.fr this morning, the buyers are back. In the third quarter, the volume of property sold in France rose by 14% over the same period last year, according to Century 21,  a direct result of  a slowdown in declining property prices.

"We have passed the low point. While prices fell 10% in the first half, the decline should be limited to 6% throughout the year, "said Laurent Vimont, head of the network. However, this average hides significant local variations. In many regions, the market has not yet recovered and further adjustments are thought to be on the way.

The French property market in recovery:

The Paris property market has rebounded somewhat. "The price decline of 8% in the first half seems to have been sufficient to redress the sales," says Laurent Vimont, head of Century 21. Figures indicate that the number of transactions increased 29% in the third quarter. 

The regions that are still sick:

In many cities where transactions continue to decline, prices will, however, continue to decline. With sales down 18% year on year, the Centre is the region worse off ... just before the Limousin (-16%). The housing market remains frozen in Marseilles, too, which shows sales are down 11%, which should logically require sellers to review their asking prices downwards. To a lesser extent, Brittany could face further turmoil: during the last twelve months, prices are already down 11% in the region.

In the same article is a map of France with the price change per square metre on last year. The Dordogne is down 5.8% on last year at 2,007 euros per square metre.

Elsewhere it was resported today that consumer confidence is in the rise in France.

All we need now is for the GBP/EUR exchange rate to reover to even 1.14 or 1.15 to really open the flood gates ahead of Prime Minister Brown's expected winter of discontent.