Inside France’s post-pandemic property market boom: from a pied-à-terre in Paris to Estée Lauder’s former home in Cannes to a spot in millionaires’ favourite Monaco, sales are soaring
- Lifestyle factors fuel interest in the French market, especially in Paris or places with gorgeous views, such as from Estée Lauder’s beautiful old summer house
- Experts advise potential buyers to consider the southwest, like the Pyrenees; plus, US buyers enjoyed a 16 per cent discount in France compared to a year ago
Foreigners’ infatuation with the “city of love” has pushed demand for homes in Paris to a near-record high. During 2021, a year when residential sales across France as a whole climbed 31 per cent above their 10-year average and prime prices increased by 6 per cent on average, market activity was strongest of all in the French capital, according to property agent Knight Frank’s latest residential research.
Americans appear to be the most smitten, with Knight Frank’s site registering a 37 per cent increase in searches for French homes by US buyers in the first five months of 2022, against the same period in 2021.
Kate Everett-Allen, partner, residential research at Knight Frank, said that in June 2022, US buyers enjoyed a 16 per cent discount in France compared to a year ago, due to currency shifts alone. “With the US Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy faster than the European Central Bank, this figure is set to increase,” she said. “With interest rates rising globally, the impact on currency markets is a constantly moving arena.”
Paris – a capital idea
In Paris, where existing home sales increased by 12 per cent year on year in 2021 – almost eclipsing its historic peak of 185,900 sales in 2017 – prime prices rose by 6.3 per cent year on year and have jumped a further 3 per cent so far in 2022.
The report found that for properties below US$3.6 million, the domestic demand remains strong, while super-prime sales (above US$10 million) totalled 15 in the first half of 2022, twice as many as in the previous year. It adds that private equity firms are also increasing their exposure to the city’s residential market, while a stark lack of new-build luxury product is helping to protect prices.
Foreigners’ infatuation with the “city of love” has pushed demand for homes in Paris to a near-record high
Everett-Allen described France as the most popular second-home market in Europe, offering a varied choice of lifestyles and geographies to suit all profiles and budgets. “Add to this a transparent political and tax framework and you can quickly see why there is such demand from an increasing permanent and semi-permanent buyer profile keen to tap into the rich cultural seam that is France,” she said.