Because of the sanitary crisis, provinces cities are all the rage. Between 2019 and 2020, the share of household living in the capital and having bought a principal residence outside of Ile-de-France has been multiplied by two, going from 5.6% to 11.8%.
Buyers have increased their field of research in a radius of about 30 kms around the city of their choice. They also choose among the cities of less than 100,000 inhabitants preferred by the French, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin being head of the list. Prices are far more interesting. They favor houses with garden rather than those with an extra room. “French people have had two reflexes: invest money and improve their way of living” Alexander Kraft, president of Sotheby’s International Realty France-Monaco explains.
Regarding the buyers, there are not only those with comfortable incomes who have wanted a better quality of life. Indeed, there are two types of buyers: the digital nomads and the freelancers who have no pressure in terms of jobs or children, and the executives who can telecommute. “Those who had the money took advantage of the absence of foreigners to buy properties at a price between 5 and 20 millions of euros in front of the sea” adds Alexander Kraft.
A hôtel particulier rarely changes hands. When it does, the transaction can run into tens of millions of euros, almost always away from public view. The French daily Le Parisien recently devoted an investigation to this distinct corner of the Paris property market,…
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