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Property in Poitou Charentes - Spring 2010

Overview

A recent poll by International Living (a US lifestyle magazine) showed France as the best country in the world to live for the fifth year running.

Poitou Charentes is a perfect example of this unsurpassable quality - from the award winning beaches around Royan to the world famous town of Cognac.

The magazine based its ranking on a point system, with each of the 194 nations being graded on nine categories: Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.

The authors perfectly summed up life over here when they said:

“Its tiresome bureaucracy and high taxes are outweighed by an unsurpassable quality of life, including the world's best healthcare.”

It’s no surprise then that France is also the most visited tourist destination in the world with 75 million people a year coming for the gourmet food, beautiful scenery, clean & sandy beaches and top ski resorts.

But how is the current property market in this wonderful region?

The current market in Poitou Charentes

Traditionally the French property market has been sheltered from the volatility seen in the UK and other markets.  General figures for the country as a whole are always misleading (how can the country house market in SW France compare to apartments in downtown Nice?) but the official “Notaires de France” site (www.immoprix.com) offers the following guide to price rises/falls for a traditional family home:

France             Poitou Charentes

2004/5             +14.7%            +20.4%

2005/6             +12.0%            +9.1%         

2006/7             +7.2%              +10.3

2007/8             +2.7%              +6.1%

2008/9             -7.6%               - 6.6%

There is no doubt that 2009/10 will see a further fall in prices.  One of the contributing factors to this is the distinct shortage of buyers from the UK.

A recent survey by the respected estate agency Savills said that it 2009 the number of Brits buying second homes overseas dropped by a staggering 80% and that only a few hundred were bought last year.

Clearly it’s a buyers market and with 50% of homes in France bought and sold privately there are a bewildering array of properties to choose from.

There are some signs though that international buyers are beginning to look again for properties in France and I am hopeful that transaction numbers will increase this year.

I attended The France Show in London at the start of the year and although attendee numbers were well down (thanks to the snow) there was certainly a much more positive feeling than in January 2009.

The Charente valley seemed to be particularly popular with visitors who were quizzing me on the climate, scenery and architectural style of houses.

If we truly have reached the bottom of the market (and nobody can say for sure) then now could be a good time to pick up a bargain like the typically charentaise house pictured.

Article provided by Graham Downie of Cognac Property Services

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