Riviera Reporter
Riviera Reporter
THE FRENCH RIVIERA'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWS MAGAZINE
THE FRENCH RIVIERA'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWS MAGAZINE

The state of the property market in 2015 on the French Riviera

Housing market road sign

Well, another year draws to a close and what a period of ups and downs it has been.

I feel privileged to live and work in this region of France and often have to pinch myself when I commute into Cannes, Nice or St Tropez, all the while staring at the azure blue Mediterranean Sea. I don’t know about you, but when I see that view from my traffic jam, it seems less of an issue than when I used to sit on the M6 staring at some tower block.

This brings me onto the property market. I think we predicted at the beginning of the year a return of foreign buyers to the market, an increase in transactions and also more stability; well, 2 out of 3 isn’t bad, right? The foreign buyers are definitely back in force and we have experienced a 40% increase in transactions this year compared to 2014.

The stability in the market is still very much on a knife-edge and, while transaction numbers are up across the board, this has come at the expense of achieved prices. The Notaires de France published figures in October 2015 showing a decrease of 7% for sales of houses, for the second quarter of 2015 across the Alpes-Maritimes and 3.7% fall in the Var. Meanwhile, Immoprix reported that the average sale price in the Alpes-Maritimes is €430,000 and €304,600 in the Var region.

I will continue to keep a close eye on how things develop as we go into 2016 and I do believe, albeit with a little caution, we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It remains to thank our vendors and clients for their continued support throughout 2015 and also a huge thank you to Riviera Reporter readers for allowing me the platform to pass on my musings and experience. Wherever you are celebrating, I wish you all the very best for the festive season and look forward to catching up in the New Year.

Contact Tim Clark of Leggett Immobilier at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Photo: 401kcalculator.org

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