Nîmes seems a bit off

I looked at the November property special with the rises and falls in property value as per Notaires de France and wonder how these increases and decreases are calculated. Perhaps the total of habitable square metres sold is calculated, then the total value and the first figure is divided into the second for price/m2.

But for your example of Nîmes, with a 5.1% rise in house values and an 8.4% fall in the value of flats, is this likely? Is it not more likely demand for better houses increased at the expense of lower price houses and, similarly, higher demand for cheaper flats?

Rowland Kennard, Pas-de-Calais

The Conseil Supérieur du Notariat said: House and flat markets are very different: flats are exclusively town centre and houses are town plus suburbs. Our prices are ‘median’ – 50% sold at a higher price and 50% for less. In the second quarter of 2016 we saw a larger
proportion of large houses (5+ rooms) sold than a year previously.