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La Voie Bleue: European Cycle Route of the Year is in France
700km bike path linking Luxembourg and Lyon has been crowned winner of the 2026 title
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Before and after: Garonne river floods in south-west France
Satellite images show extent of flooding from back-to-back storms in February
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Home insurance increases expected in France after floods
Compensation costs for the recent storms and flooding across the west and south-west is estimated to be in the billions of euros
Mortgage rates ‘pop’ fears of bubble
Fears France could be facing a property ‘bubble’ have been calmed by the Banque de France market figures for April/May, which showed people were giving far less of their monthly budgets to repayments than before the 2008 crash.
While there was an unprecedented 36% rise in mortgage applications last year, 85% of them were for main homes and 12% for investment property.
The central bank said all categories of earners were involved and 10% were earning under €20,000 a year.
In all, €137billion of lending was at rates averaging 1.5% in late 2016. Importantly, that meant buyers had had to give over far less of their pay to be able to afford the property, just 24% on average.
