by cash4overseasproperty 
If you’re looking to sell overseas property in France, you will find the information in this article to be quite useful. France is one of the hottest overseas property destinations in the world. It has a prosperous economy and a stable political system.
The French real estate market is also very stable, and not prone to suffering from unexpected events or shocks as the housing market in many other countries, such as the US and UK. Even in the midst of the turmoil caused by the 2008 recession, the French real estate market held steady.
However, it has been noticed that the last couple of years have seen a slight decline in interest from cash rich overseas investors in France. Nobody quite knows why, but this seems to be the case when one looks at the data.
Britons continue to remain the biggest buyers in France no changes there. But cash rich overseas buyers snapped up just 1% of overseas properties in France. Indeed, the French magazine Les Notaires put out a property market report where it was found that there’s been a noticeable decline in foreign ownership of French property.
Back in 2007-07, 2.8 percent of properties in France were held by overseas investors. Now, the number has dropped down to 1%. British buyers make up 32.6% of all non-resident buyers of French property.
Indeed, the British interest in France is very high in central and western regions of the country. Here, British buyers comprise of 70 to 80 percent of foreign buyers.
The other nationalities that have actively purchased French properties include Italians, who are responsible for 15.3% of the purchases made by non-residents, and Belgians, who have snapped up 11.1% of homes in France bought by foreign nationals. Swiss buyers also buy a significant chunk of French properties.
This is understandable as all four countries, Britain, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy are geographically close to France and enjoy historical ties with the country that go back to hundreds of years.
What’s drawing British buyers to Paris? According to Heather Byrne, Regional Manager at estate agents Leggett Immobilier, “All the stars and planets are aligned to give customers a good base to buy from.” According to her prices in France are at their lowest since the 2008 crisis.
Ms. Byrne adds, “On top of that, French mortgage rates are also at an all-time low. It’s the same as in the UK; the government wants the markets to be opened up and for people to keep selling to generate movement across the economy.”
It is also true that British buyers are not as active in France as before. Indeed, back in 2005, 44 percent of foreign buyers in France were British. The numbers are not so skewed in the favour of British buyers any more.
What has been noticed is that the picture changes when we visit the Greater Paris region of Ile-de-France. The nationalities represented here are more diverse and different. In Paris, Italians were the biggest buyers, snapping up 20 percent of the properties purchased by foreigners.
Americans hold a great fascination for Paris. Many Americans consider Paris to be the most romantic place in the world and dream of buying an apartment here. So Americans are the second biggest buyers of apartments in Paris, at 8 percent, the same as British buyers.
Paris has a large North African community, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Moroccans and Algerians are big buyers of apartments in Paris.
The biggest change has been the increase in Russian and Chinese interest in Paris. A number of wealthy, cash rich overseas investors from China and Russia have bought apartments in some of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Paris. If you need to sell overseas property fast in France contact us today.
