Around the UK with Ferrari (pt2): Peak District
12 July 2021
Driving: ARES Design launches the Bullet
11 August 2021Global house prices rising, as available stock tightens
'H ome prices are skyrocketing around the world,' screamed the headline on CNN last week. Let’s take a look at what they were saying, and see if it’s true in France.
The Leggett Prestige team saw an unprecedented number of enquiries in the first six months of 2021. Demand came from both the domestic market and from overseas buyers. Their sales pipeline going into H2 was 50% up on this time last year (which was itself a record). It is clear that they are not alone.
This following is taken from a report that CNN put out last month:
'It wasn’t long ago that real estate experts were bracing for the worst. The coronavirus pandemic had sent large parts of the world into lockdown, shuttering businesses, costing tens of millions of workers their jobs and putting the housing market into a deep freeze. The number of people asking lenders for more time on their mortgage payments surged as the global recession hit.
'Instead, house prices soared even as the world suffered its worst slump since the Great Depression. From New Zealand to the United States, Germany, China and Peru, the same phenomenon has taken hold: home prices are skyrocketing, and many buyers are panicking.
'Among the 37 wealthy countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), real house prices rose by almost 7% between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the fourth quarter of 2020 — the fastest year-on-year growth in the past two decades.'
So why did this happen? Well, the short answer is that world governments stepped in to shore up the individual property markets and provided massive financial support to businesses and individuals.
Add this to record low interest rates and a demand for lighter, roomier, property with outside space and there is record demand and subsequent rising prices.
In France there have been well over 1million transactions in the last twelve months, despite the periods of confinement and curfew. We are seeing bigger budgets and the top end of the market is thriving, across the country.
house prices soared even as the world suffered its worst slump since the Great Depression
This is a quite remarkable statistic. Leggett Prestige has seen first hand the demand for country property with a home office and excellent broadband. Second-home owners are coming to their property for months at a time, rather than the traditional two-week holiday.
It is too simplistic to look at the national picture though. Here is what the Notaires de France wrote in a recent report:
'The dynamic is more complex than it seems, given the large gap between the French provinces, where volumes remained strong, and Greater Paris where they dropped by more than 15%. As such, volumes have clearly held up at national level, but in very different ways. In Greater Paris, the underperformance of volumes is already having an impact on prices: prices are rising less quickly than in previous quarters (+0.5% between Q2 and Q3 of 2020, after +1.8% and +2%) – a trend confirmed for inner Paris by the leading indicators from pre-contracts.
'Therefore, year-on-year prices will have increased less in the French capital than in the whole of the Greater Paris region, something that has not happened since 2013.'
In essence, while prices continue to rise in Paris (and other cities), they are not rising as quickly as in the country – Leggett Prestige feel that this is a natural correction after a long period of flaming hot markets in the major French cities.
This market comment has been written and supplied by Leggett Prestige. Visit their website for more information and spectacular properties or call them on +33 (0)5 53 60 84 88.
*average prices supplied by SeLoger
Sales volume growth of properties (excluding newbuilds and offplan)
Number of properties (excluding newbuilds and offplan) sold (cumulative) over 12 months – Source: CGEDD, DGFIP (MEDOC)