Real estate investment in France: is it worth it?

Real estate investment is certainly one of the most profitable kind of investment you could probably make, if you want to set the bar high. But what about foreign investment, and in this case, French investment? France may be associated with growth and development, but the real estate market has its own caracteristics. In this guide, we will learn a bit more about french real estate market and give you pieces of advice if you wanna try the “french experience”. Real estate investment in France, is it worth it ? Answers.

Real estate investment in France: should you take the plunge ?

A good investor always thinks twice before investing his money, wherever in the world he (or she) plans to invest. If you are still hesitating about investing in real estate in France, here are some informations you’ll certainly want to become aware of.

The economic context in France is opportune

Real estate sector in France has experienced a pretty good growth these last years, especially in 2019: a double-digit growth that didn’t happen since early 2018. More than 1 million of transactions have been counted (old housing only)!

french investment

Investors in France are also foreigners

All over 2018 and 2019, the portion of foreign investors in the real estate market was rising. 5,9% of all property investments were performed by foreign investors. Those investments are especially related to Paris and its suburbs. As for the luxury property market, near 60% of the investors are foreigners. Wanna join them?

Disparities exist on french territory

If you really plan to invest your money in the real estate sector in France, be aware that a lot of disparities are real between all of French departments. All around Paris, the capital, real estate seems to attract investors nonstop. But the prices there are really high and the rental vacuum can be also uncertain all over the years or even the months. If you compare it to the others departments, here is what we can observe: Alsace, Limousin and Auvergne are among the cheapest areas, with a price per square meter approximately oscillating around €1500 or 2000€. Around big cities as Nantes, Bordeaux or even Lyon, this price is two times higher (or even more).

Real estate investment in France: 4 cities you need to invest in

When speaking about real estate investment, localization is the first and essential criterion. Where will you be able to find the most rental property, the one you’ve bought for a fair price and that attracts tenants? Analyzing all of the french market is more than you can do alone, even if you are working with a professional. In order to help you, here are 4 of the most interesting cities in term of real estate investment.

Real estate investment in France: Nantes as a first choice?

A few years ago, Nantes was listed European Green Capital. The city has the great advantage of attracting every year thousands of new citizens because of its dynamism. In Nantes, economic sector is doing pretty well at all scales and the city is also known because of its cultural standing. The thing is, real estate prices in Nantes are consequently rising. It may reach a price per square meter of about €4500 (approximately and for brand new goods). But if you compare it to prices in Lyon or in Paris, they‘re still pretty much reasonables, depending on the kind of property you wanna invest in. Some other facts to notice: in Nantes, the selling period is pretty quick (less than a month) and the rental yield is high: almost 5%!

This french real estate agent can help you for you investment in Nantes : http://dugast.idimmo.net/

The south of France: Toulouse

Toulouse is still considered as the capital of aeronautics and spatial industry. Situated in the south of France, Toulouse welcomed into its midst more than 60 000 new citizens over the last 10 years. Attractive on an economic and demographic way, Toulouse offers a good quality of life as for the tenants as for the owners. This is certainly one of the cities you must choose if you want to invest in real estate in France to rent to students. One important thing you must know as an investor before investing in real estate in France:the rental yields is much higher in the south of France. Toulouse keeps offerting a large range of properties for all kind of investments. You should definitely take a look there !

More information about invesment in Toulouse (in French) :

https://www.immobilier-toulouse-blog.com/

http://loi-duflot-toulouse.biz/investir-toulouse/

Bordeaux, city of choice for investors

Bordeaux is still today considered as the city n°1 for french and foreign property investors. Why such an enthusiasm? First of all, Bordeaux is one of the greatest cities in France in term of cultural and economical dynamism. Perfectly situated on the west coast of France, Bordeaux is one those cities that attract thousands of new citizens every year, young people in a large majority. In Bordeaux, the suburbs you might favor are: Saint-Michel, Bastide-Niel and all the north of the city. The historical center is also one of the best spots to invest in as it is the most attractive. Be careful there: prices per square meter can easily reach €7000.

Go futher about the city of Bordeaux here : http://immobilier-bordeaux-info.fr/

Real estate investment in France: to the North, through Lille

Lille isn’t the most attractive city of France in term of culture, climate or even economic situation. Nevertheless, the city has great advantages for investors. 75% of the residents are actually tenants. Young people and especially students are numerous. Also, thanks to its geographic situation, Lille residents can reach Paris, Brussels and even London in one or two hours at most. If you wanna invest in a studio appartment or target young people as tenants, you might definitely obtain what you want in Lille. The rental vacuum may be higher than in Nantes or Bordeaux, but the amount of investment will also be lower (approximately €2500 per square meter near the city center). It may just be the kind of investment you need. Think about it!

Why you should keep an eye on Lille? Read this article (in french) : https://www.fluxenet.fr/pourquoi-investir-dans-limmobilier-a-lille.html

As a conclusion, we can easily summarize saying that YES, real estate investment in France is totally worth it. As for every kind of investment, you must be really cautious while choosing the city you’ll invest in. Most of the cities we talked about are constantly extending their residential areas in order to provide the most valuable offer to their citizens and investors. If you didn’t find yet the perfect property to invest in, it may just be a matter of time. Keep waiting for a while. Then, the rest is up to you.

More information about the french real estate market :