The median price of non-new build properties in France rose by 7.2% over the course of 2021, a newly published report by the official network of notaires shows. The highest raise was seen in Angers, Pays de la Loire, which rose 19.3% in a year.
The Notaires de France data was released yesterday (April 28) and is the fullest available as it takes into account all property sales and pre-sales that occur in France rather than data from individual estate agents.
It takes several months to compile, hence why the latest one showing last year’s fourth quarter has only recently been published.
The report primarily covers the period of October 1 to December 31, 2021, and includes comparisons to the previous quarter and the year before as well as a look ahead to 2022.
The data shows that while property prices in general are up, the most significant rise has been in non-new houses located outside of the Ile-de-France region, with the median price at the end of 2021 9.4% more expensive than at the end 2020.
The median price of non-new flats outside of Ile-de-France also increased in price by 8% in the same period.
Within Ile-de-France, there was a slightly lower rise in the median price of non-new houses, which went up 7% year-on-year.
Non-new flats were, though, selling for around the same price, with the median price only rising by 0.6% from December 2020 to December 2021.
The table below shows the evolution of property prices in France, broken down into those within the Ile-de-France region and those outside it.
Note: In French, properties are either deemed as being new (neuf) or old (ancien). ‘Ancien’ actually refers to properties that are over two years old, which we have translated to ‘non-new’.
Maps - How did property prices change in your area?
Non-new build houses
Our map below shows the median price of a non-new house in France as of the last quarter of 2021, including how much the median property price rose over the previous year.
The most expensive place shown is Corse-du-Sud, with the median property price of €475,500, a rise of 18.4% year-on-year.
The least expensive place shown is the town of Châteauroux (Centre-Val de Loire), with the median price for a non-new house just €125,000, an increase of 1.2% from the end of 2020.
Hover over the dots on the map to see more information on the prices. The bigger the dot, the higher the median price.
Non-new build flats
The data also shows the median price per square metre of non-new build flats in France.
Paris has, unsurprisingly, the highest rates, with the median cost per square metre €10,600. This is down slightly - 1.6% - from the end of 2020, but is still far higher than the next most expensive place, Lyon.
There, the median price per square metre is €5,090, an increase of 3.1% from the end of 2020.
The place where flat prices increased the most over 2021 was Poitiers in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, which rose by 18.8% year-on-year, bringing the median price per square metre up to €2,150.
The cheapest place to buy a flat in France, according to the data, is in Saint-Étienne, which is just 60km southwest of Lyon. There, the median price per square metre for a flat is €1,150, although this is 11.8% more than at the end of 2020.
The map below shows the median price per square metre of flats at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the price at the end of 2020.
Hover over the dots to see more information on the prices. The bigger the dot, the higher the median price.
Analysis
2021 was a record year for property sales in France, coming on the back of a stunted 2020, when sales fell due to the coronavirus pandemic. That created pent-up demand, and also saw many projects pushed back, adding to the high number of sales last year.
The Notaires de France described it as an “abnormal year”, but said that figures from the fourth quarter show that property sales are, slowly but surely, beginning to level off.
Real estate network Orpi reported that sales were down 17% in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2021.
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