French property prices have come down to earth with a bang, according a number of professional bodies, including the French National Federation of Real Estate Agents (Fédération Nationale de l’Immobilier or FNAIM)
More on Property Prices in France – No Soft Landing says FNAIM
However one chooses to look at the current financial situation, there are winners and losers. The current losers, to our minds, are developers with excess stock to move in a slow market. The winners are well-funded buyers in a good bargaining position. Prices are being reduced on property around the world, and any developer worth his salt knows that it is far better to take a drop in price and move the stock rather than sit on it until the market picks up.
More on Buyers in stronger position to bargain over property prices
Europe may have lagged behind the US during the recent credit crisis, but they have caught up now and the effects are starting to be felt in the property markets. For the first time in many years, estate agents are closing their doors and the windows of the remaining agents are littered with hastily dropped prices. Property price movements in France usually lag behind the UK movements and this downturn is no exception.
The first-time buyer crisis has been one of the major issues of the housing industry and recent events have ensured it is not about to go away. Nor, as a result, will the scapegoating.