Property sales in France a real problem currently?
Discussion
A friend has been trying to sell a larg-ish property in Normandy for a year or two and is finding it very difficult.
He seems to have tried most methods recommended on here - Leggett, Rightmove, local agents, leboncoin, Green Acres etc. but almost no interest.
Is the property market stagnant in France at the moment or is it just a case of finding the right person looking for their type of property in their location?
If all the usual on-line and local channels to market have been tried, what else can he do other than keep dropping the price?
He seems to have tried most methods recommended on here - Leggett, Rightmove, local agents, leboncoin, Green Acres etc. but almost no interest.
Is the property market stagnant in France at the moment or is it just a case of finding the right person looking for their type of property in their location?
If all the usual on-line and local channels to market have been tried, what else can he do other than keep dropping the price?
The market is very small at the moment. For rural and mid-market properties, it's been that way since the £ slipped off 1.50 to the €.
My place in Dordogne has been on the market for four years, Not that we're looking to sell - we're perfectly happy there. I just know that it'll take a long time to sell, so we're prepared to move on when and if a buyer turns up. We would then buy another place in France, but if this one doesn't sell, we're happy to keep it.
My place in Dordogne has been on the market for four years, Not that we're looking to sell - we're perfectly happy there. I just know that it'll take a long time to sell, so we're prepared to move on when and if a buyer turns up. We would then buy another place in France, but if this one doesn't sell, we're happy to keep it.
Everything is price sensitive and buyers expect a bargain.French buyers are a lot more realistic than Brit who think you should be giving property away.
Family have 2 houses for sale in Eymet,decent amount of interest but buyers need to sell as well and cash buyers are a rare thing.The cash buyers know they are in the driving seat and have so much choice.
Our notaires negotiator reckons under 120k things are moving,over 1 million are moving but nearly everything in the middle is very hard to shift.
Family have 2 houses for sale in Eymet,decent amount of interest but buyers need to sell as well and cash buyers are a rare thing.The cash buyers know they are in the driving seat and have so much choice.
Our notaires negotiator reckons under 120k things are moving,over 1 million are moving but nearly everything in the middle is very hard to shift.
mike74 said:
My friend had a property in Brittany, bought about 10 years ago for £40k, spent another £20k doing it up, been on the market for almost 2 years now with no interest what so ever, just accepted £25k for it.
Ouch.
It's all about location, just like the UK, but much more so in the case of country properties that are so much more plentiful here. Property needs to be close to work, or in the case of Brittany, the coast, which also happens to be where most of the commerce and industry is located. If your pal had bought a coastal property in 2006 at 200K, he would be able to sell it for more today without much difficulty. Ouch.
Having said that, two years isn't very long to wait for a sale, I've seen second hand cars on garage forecourts for longer than that!
Steve
Funnily enough, we just had our place valued as we are looking to downsize now the kids have flown the nest. By my reckoning and looking at similar places on the usual internet sites, they undervalued us by about 100 grand. I suspect this is probably because business is so poor and by pricing at a giveaway price, they hope it will be snapped up and earn them some much needed money.The market in France has cooled rapidly since the heady days of 2003 and i see little sign of any significant recovery in the short term. I did however read an article suggesting things will start to improve in a couple of years. No consolation if you are in a hurry to sell (which we are not) but at least a glimmer of hope on the horizon.In the meantime, we will certainly be sitting tight. Anyone who hopes to make big profits from property in France is deluding themselves as the market has always been structured to discourage speculation, unlike UK where it is positively encouraged. However, it is particularly dire at present and no one should be expected to take a massive loss unless they are desperate, so i'm afraid it's looking like a waiting game.
I asked one of our local estate agents what she thought about the current market, she backed up what has already been said on here, that anything 50 - 100k euros is moving ok and anything near the Gulf du Morbihan 800,000 euros upwards is also moving, but something else she said was that the French won't touch the 'old' or 'restored' stuff around here anyway, they prefer new builds, more economic to run etc. I know the older stuff and 'ruins to restore' has often been the route for the Brits, but they don't seem so numerous these days or else they've been warned off the potential 'money pit' route.
I'm staying put for the moment, just keep spending on old cars instead ! much more entertaining;-)
I'm staying put for the moment, just keep spending on old cars instead ! much more entertaining;-)
[quote=racerbob]I asked one of our local estate agents what she thought about the current market, she backed up what has already been said on here, that anything 50 - 100k euros is moving ok and anything near the Gulf du Morbihan 800,000 euros upwards is also moving, but something else she said was that the French won't touch the 'old' or 'restored' stuff around here anyway, they prefer new builds, more economic to run etc. I know the older stuff and 'ruins to restore' has often been the route for the Brits, but they don't seem so numerous these days or else they've been warned off the potential 'money pit' route.
I've built this In the dordogne in between other projects over the past 5 years and been approached a couple of times by people asking if I will sell it , there's definitely a market but as you say , cheaper modern houses .
The best thing I never did was buy a huge house down there !
I've built this In the dordogne in between other projects over the past 5 years and been approached a couple of times by people asking if I will sell it , there's definitely a market but as you say , cheaper modern houses .
The best thing I never did was buy a huge house down there !
It's really crap at the moment and isn't likely to get a lot better any time soon, certainly for older, more rural properties. Most people want to live in the bigger towns as it's where most of the jobs are, and younger families aren't usually interested in ramshackle, fixer-upper type old stone cottages and suchlike that are expensive to heat in winter and always have something or other needing doing to them. Whereas the market for new builds, even in rural areas, is pretty good. Combine that with the fact that buying second homes isn't as easy to do for middle-class Brits, we don't really have the buying power that we used to have and I don't think it's as fashionable a thing to do any more.
We bought this in the Dordogne about a year ago. We'd been looking for three years and most of the stuff that was on the market when we started looking was still For sale when we completed.
This is in the vines on the outskirts of a very pretty Bastide village and was priced to sell so had a fair bit of interest but it was the only one of dozens that we looked at where there was a hint of anyone else interested
This is in the vines on the outskirts of a very pretty Bastide village and was priced to sell so had a fair bit of interest but it was the only one of dozens that we looked at where there was a hint of anyone else interested
Gassing Station | France | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff