France On Fine Form

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% above their 10-year average and prime prices increased by 6% on average, market activity was strongest of all in the French capital, confirms Abode2 luxury property magazine.

This trend was first evident as the pandemic pushed French buyers – like many others elsewhere in the world – to re-evaluate their housing requirements and working practices, in many cases relocating, upgrading or acquiring a second home. Knight Frank confirm that, when borders reopened, domestic buyers were joined by those from overseas, “for whom the French lifestyle resonated even more strongly”. According to the report, “the evolving landscape presents opportunities for buyers who have been stymied by the lack of stock and the speed with which some markets have been moving”.

US buyers alone 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, according to industry insiders. With interest rates rising globally, the impact on currency markets is a constantly moving arena.

In Paris, where existing home sales increased by 12% year on year in 2021 – almost eclipsing its historic peak of 185,900 sales in 2017 – prime prices rose by 6.3% year on year and have jumped a further 3% so far in 2022.