A leading French real estate agency believes that the negative impact that Brexit will have on the French property market will not be as severe as many people fear.
While Leggett Immobilier concedes that the weakening Pound will put some British-based buyers off the idea of purchasing a home in France – more so than any political or economic-based motivations – they are confident that France’s lifestyle appeal remains strong.
“We expect the French property market to continue growing – both in number of sales and in average house prices,” say Leggett Immobilier. “The Notaires de France forecast rises of 2 to 3 per cent and this seems a sensible prediction.”
The company states that it has had a 19 per cent reduction in the number of enquiries coming from Britain regarding purchasing a French property since Brexit. However, it states that the enquiries it is now getting are coming from more serious buyers, rather than speculative ones.
“Sales to British buyers dropped slightly in the second half of the year, but nothing too significant and British buyers still see French property prices as being incredibly attractive,” the company says.
Moreover, the company argues, British purchasers are not the only people interested in purchasing French property. Leggett Immobilier has recorded a spike in demand from overseas buyers in the past year – particularly those from America and Scandinavia.
Overseas house-hunters are being drawn to France by the combination of low house prices and cheap financing. Indeed, mortgage rates have been at record lows in the last year, with Euribor rates remaining negative for 11 of the last 12 months.
Article published 9th January 2017