France is the New Spain
At this specific time France is now top dog for Brits looking for overseas property. Because of the economic crisis Spain’s property market has decreased in value and house prices have been lowered considerably. This volatile market has made Brits think twice about purchasing their second home in Spain and look for a more secure economy to invest into.
Aside from the dropping property rates, there are further problems with Spain’s property market. A lot of buyers have had trouble with the countries laws and dodgy developers which meant extra costs, or in fact the loss, of their new homes. These kinds of issues have put people off buying homes in Spain and searching elsewhere.
Following this it means that UK buyers are looking for alternatives and top of the list is investing in French property. It has not been affected by the economic crisis and the common view is that it is an extremely safe place to invest into without a lot of risk.
France offers a selection of different property from rural remote areas to the tulmult of the city. This means it can accommodate most of investor’s conditions which is why it is increasing in popularity. Northwest regions such as Brittany and Normandy are popular for peace, tranquil places and stunning scenery. Another popular region is Cte d’Azur which offers fantastic coastlines with sandy beaches.
Dordogne in the southwest of France is particularly popular with English people, both for vacations and for buying property; so much so that it has been given the nickname,’ Little Britain’. As France is so easily reachable from the UK, being the closest continental neighbor, it means most people have been there and are familiar with the culture, making them more inclined to buy property in France.
So it seems that France is the new Spain… But will it stay this way? Both will always be popular choices for Brits so we will just have to keep an eye on further developments in the French property market!
Pauline Felward has written about French property and Spanish property for the past two years. She is familiar with the overseas property market and is even an overseas property investor herself.
