The recent FNAIM “state of the market” report is at best obtuse, and at worst a deliberate attempt to obscure the facts. As usual – no sales volumes are included in the report, but the tone suggests some panic amongst the membership. The report claims “slight upward pressure on prices in the short term,” but then states that prices fell 1.4% in the first quarter 2010.
More on Property Investment in France :: FNAIM Hedges Their Bets
Moscow real estate prices continued a seemingly inexorable decline in July, breaking through the psychologically important level of $4,000 per square meter last week and continuing to sink lower, according to data compiled by a leading analytical company.
Hand written price reductions in a French Estate Agents Window
After months of denying the reality of the real estate correction, professionals in the industry have finally admitted there is a correction undrway. Figures published last week by the Chamber of Notaries of Paris-Ile-de-France tell a different tale to the usual “we are immune,” coming from the FNAIM. The housing market all but collapsed in the Paris region – 22 980 transactions were recorded in the first quarter of 2009 against 39 580 during the same period in 2008, a drop of 41% and the lowest figure since 1986.
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.
