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Pic du Midi receives Élysée backing in push for Unesco World Heritage status
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Why letting buyers move in early can backfire in France
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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.
