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Large increase in Americans buying properties on the Cote d’Azur
President Trump is cited as a major factor, but is not the only reason for the area’s popularity
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How long does it take to sell property in different areas of France? New study
Many major cities are showing signs of recovery when it comes to supply, demand, prices, and time to sell
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Tough Airbnb rules in Marseille prompt many property owners to sell
City council reduce time that a property can be rented to short-term guests
French property watch: October 2019
This month: Midi-Pyrénées

DEPARTMENTS: Aveyron, Lot, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne
MAIN CITIES: Cahors, Figeac, Rodez, Millau, Albi, Castres, Montauban, Castelsarrasin
THE NORTHERN half of the former Midi-Pyrénées region, now part of the larger Occitanie super-region, is a green and pleasant combination of rolling hills and mountain foothills.
It is a place of busy towns and sleepy villages that oozes southern French olde-worlde rural charm.
And yet, sandwiched between the more sought-after eastern ‘Dordogneshire’ and western Paca (just a small part of Languedoc-Roussillon keeps them apart), it’s a relatively forgotten no-man’s land for anglophone property hunters seeking a personal slice of the France idyll.
That’s not to say it’s undiscovered country. You’ll find plenty of English-speakers in and around the main towns, along with popular haunts such as the bohemian village-on-a-hill Cordes-sur-Ciel, if that’s what you’re looking for – but this corner of France is forever, proudly, French.
House prices are, on the whole, lower than in better-known hotspots for British home-hunters – though it seems an increasing number of investors are catching on.
Property prices in Montauban, for example, have risen 13% year on year, report the Notaires de France – though a typical older property in the largest town in the four departments will still cost about €190,000. And you can find similar properties in Aveyron for under €150,000.
Transport links are reasonable. Rodez airport has flights to the UK, Toulouse is within easy travelling distance – and while Castres (which also has a small, internal airport) is currently the largest town in France not to have a direct motorway link, that will change after plans for an autoroute connecting it to Toulouse were approved.