British buyers’ Norman love affair

British people bought a quarter of the homes sold between September 2005 and September 2006 in certain parts of Normandy.
The figures come from the Notaires de Basse-Normandie, a lawyers' professional body in this north-western region.
They show that Britons were especially active in the Pays d'Avranche, part of the Manche department, a coastal area near the Channel Islands, where they bought just over a quarter of homes. The next most popular area was the Bocage Ornais in the Orne department, at 16.5%, followed by 11.7% in the Bocage Virois in Calvados.
The body also tracks the acquisition of properties by what it refers to as franciliens - Parisians from Ile de France - who bought more properties than the British, buying an incredible 60% of apartments in the Nord Pays d’Auge part of Calvados, their favoured department.
This has helped push up the prices of flats in Calvados by 22.4%.
The figures come in the latest report into the housing market, which shows that house prices continued to rise well above inflation last year but are “gently heading back to earth.”

Slowdown

Overall, in France house prices rose 10% in the period studied while apartments rose by 12.2%, a slow-down compared to the previous 12 month period. In Basse-Normandie the rises shown were: Orne - houses 10%, apartments 6.6%; Manche - houses 10%, apartments 7.5%; Calvados - houses, 12.4%, apartments 22.4%.
Notaire Pascal Gueugnon, the notaires’ regional president, said: “So far this year we have noticed a slowing-down in the price increases, but we notaires do not envisage any decrease in the house prices this year. “People should expect an increase above the inflation rate again.” Despite the high number of Britons buying in the Pays d'Avranche, the number buying in the Manche department overall dropped slightly compared to the previous year, according to Philippe Thorel, president of the notaires of La Manche.
He said: “You can see the British are buying less, since their part in the acquisition of existing housing stock is down to 7.8% compared to 9.7% last year.
“They are certainly not leaving the area though, as they were involved in only 2.6% of sales. What’s more, their role in house buying remains significant in certain areas, such as the Pays d’Avranches and the Pays de Coutances.”
Among the 33 French towns with 100,000 inhabitants or more, Caen, capital of Basse-Normandie is number 16 in terms of house prices.