Lower prices for holiday homes in Normandy and Brittany
According to the well know French Magazine Capital, fifteen years ago France counted 2.2 million holiday homes. Nowadays, 3.3 million holiday homes are spread all over France. Since the financial crisis in 2008, the French countryside has seen price decreases for several holiday homes. However, you should be aware that it is not the same in all regions of France. For the last decade, country house prices had doubled but have fallen in the past two years. This is mainly due to the fact that foreigners sold their holiday homes in France in a hurry during the crisis. So now is a great time to buy your holiday home in France.
Before buying, you should be aware that owning a holiday home has a cost. Depending on the area, maintenance works cost an average of 2% of the value of the house and can go up to 4% when your house is located on the seaside with a pool. Of course, if you want to buy a house on the Mediterranean, prices won’t go down because it has always been and will always be the most privileged area for foreign and French buyers. But if you are looking for beaches, pleasant weather, pine forests, pastures and plains, how about considering the areas of Normandy and Brittany?
Even if the coastline remains expensive, the countryside in Normandy and Brittany has experienced a price decrease for old houses from 10% to 20% since 2008. In fact, during the crisis, most of the properties were sold extremely quickly. Normandy has numerous advantages for British people who want to purchase a property in France. Also, it is not too crowded with Parisians, who would rather buy a house in the large periphery of Paris such as the Oise or the Eure-et-Loir departments. With 600 kilometres of coastline, Normandy offers a temperate climate thanks to the proximity of the sea. Finally, it is not too far away from the UK as there are numerous ferry ports.
In this area of France, prices are extremely variable due to the vast amount of properties available. Small stone houses to renovate can be purchased for approximately €50,000 and half-timbered houses for €500,000. Prices can goes up to €3,000,000 for castles.
In fact, the SNCF (The French railways) will extend the West TGV (high-speed train) to Brest in the Finistere department in 2015, meaning the town will only be three hours away from Paris. Nowadays, it takes at least four hours and a half to link the French Capital and the western tip of Europe. Prices will increase with this faster transportation link so now is a good time to benefit from lower prices. Cotes-d’Armor and Morbihan are popular departments in Brittany with many Breton style properties on the market. In this area, the real estate market plunged in 2008 and 2009. Consequently, properties that were expensive two years ago are now affordable.
The above information has been provided by French property specialists, Sextant French Property.
To contact Sextant French Property, visit sextantproperties.com.