House prices are rising faster in France than apartments

Property prices in France rose in the second quarter of this year – April to June – despite the spring lockdown, figures from the Notaires de France show.

The findings – the most accurate available, calculated from all property sales around the country – showed something unusual.

For the first time since late 2016, and only the second time since the turn of the century, the rate at which house prices increased nationwide and regionally was routinely faster than that of apartments.

The trend is expected to continue and supports the theory of flat-dwellers looking to move out of the city and into a house after the spring lockdown.

The notaires say apartment prices should grow 2.1% year on year at the end of October, according to preliminary contracts (the first stage sale property signature in France), against 1.8% in the second quarter. House prices are expected to rise 2.6% (against 1.4%) between May and June when the market reopened after the first Covid lockdown.

Unsurprisingly, the biggest rises are around the capital.

In Paris and the Petite Couronne of departments, house prices are expected to rise 9% year on year.

Further afield, Grande Couronne departments circling Paris are set to see rises of 6.1% for flats and 7.6% for houses.

Across the whole of the Ile-de-France, the median price for a traditional house is currently €323,700.

The same trend is in other regions, the notaires reported.

“Projections resulting from the pre-contracts anticipate a continued rise in prices, or even an acceleration of the upward pace in houses.

“At the end of October, the quarterly change looks to be around 1.5% in apartments and 2.5% in houses,” says the notaires’ report.

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