Thursday 15 May 2014

Is 2014 the right year to buy your dream French Property?

Looking back at the French property market in 2008 at the beginning of the credit crunch and property crisis, it seems an awfully long time ago and at that moment nobody could seriously have imagined the depth and longevity of the overseas property recession.  In 2014, some 6 years later we still talk of the ongoing effects of the property slump in France and in other European markets.

2007 and 2008 were very different places.  Buyers had to compete for good properties. Sellers offering French properties for sale, in most cases, were spoilt for choice and often able to dictate their selling price to the estate agents.  But things have changed and enticing conditions are finally coming together for potential buyers of French Property.  Could 2014 be the year to take the leap?

Uk properties are selling again and in some areas, very fast indeed with London properties in some areas returning to the days of selling the very same day they hit the estate agents books.  Interest rates remain critically low with excellent French mortgages available.  Sterling has reached new highs offering the best exchange rates for years.  More importantly, sellers finally have to accept realistic negotiations and the actual deals being done for French properties in the current market are really offering excellent value for money.

Inquiry rates at our Dordogne based estate agency in South-West France are up 50% year to date versus 2013.  Sales are likewise.  There has always been a desire to purchase properties in France throughout the crisis, it was simply that market conditions themselves restricted the actual ability for buyers to do so. 

The boot is still really on the buyers' feet in France but we now ask the question, for how much longer will this remain the case?


The Dordogne Property Agency is the premier real estate agency in this sought after region of South-West France.  For more information about property for sale in this region, contact them on:  0033 (0)5 53 80 62 62 or visit http://www.dordognepropertyagency.com/