House prices down in first quarter
The market is in a slump on average, but this masks big regional variations in price changes over the last year
A SLIGHT overall drop in house prices across France this year masks large differences depending where you live.
Over the first quarter of this year, new notaires’ figures show prices went down 1.6% and 1.4% for non-new-build flats and houses respectively.
The new-build market is also suffering, with sales of new homes down 19% at the end of May compared to the same period last year.
Average times to sell have risen from seven to nine-and-a-half months in flats and ten to 11 in houses.
Even so, prices this spring were, overall, still 3.9% higher than their levels a year ago on average, though this figure is made up of diverse findings from around the cities of France.
Those with prices increases per square metre included: Amiens and Limoges (10.3%), Bayonne (7.3%), Bourges (8.8%), Paris (7%), Tours (6.9%), Rennes (7%), Lille (5.5%) Bordeaux (5.7%), Lyon (5%), Toulon (4.9%), Toulouse (4.5%), Nancy (3.7%), Caen (3.5%), Besançon (3.1%) and Nice (3%).
Cities where prices dropped included: Nîmes (-13.3%), Mulhouse (-12.3%), Reims (-6.7%), Saint-Etienne (-6.5%), Rouen (-3.2%) and Montpellier (-2.9%).
Irrespective of rises or drops, prices around France also vary greatly in the cost per square metre, with propertly in the capital in a price bracket of its own at €8,259 and other dear cities including Nice (€3,650), Lyon (€3,170) and Lille (€3,040). The cheapest places to live include: Saint-Etienne (€1,120), Mulhouse (€1,140), Limoges (€1,360), Bourges (€1,510) and Poitiers (€1,580).
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