The headline sounds alarming but it really is true, the French property market is already being changed by property buyer’s expectations of the near term consequences of global warming.
As one of the largest and best established specialists in the French mortgage market we have a comprehensive overview of real purchasing trends in the French property market going back many years and what we see happening now is this:
- Buyers are minimising arrival travel. With the cost of travel, and especially vehicle fuel, increasing the property hotspots are moving towards the points of entry to France and to the big towns serviced by major international airports. Gone are the days when buyers were prepared to accept a 10 hour car journey through France to get to their French property – that’s now too expensive and going to get more so in the foreseeable future. In the new world the hotspots are around the ferry ports (Calais, Le Havre, Caen, Cherbourg, St Malo), the motorway border crossings and the major airports (Paris, Lyon, Nice) where regular scheduled flights will be guaranteed.
- Buyers are minimising local travel. For many of today’s buyers that oh so desirable rural retreat an hour from the nearest shops and 6 or more hours into central France is beginning to look like an unaffordable travel expense. In the new world French properties close to, or even within, major French towns are attracting ever more interest as the balance swings towards locations with “infrastructure” (supermarkets, shops, restaurants and increasingly medical services) on the doorstep.
- Buyers are minimising energy costs. Air-conditioned and poorly insulated French properties are finding it much harder to attract buyers compared with well insulated properties in areas where air-conditioning is not needed. In the new world recently built houses with good insulation and a pleasant rather than extreme climate will win out as the best investment for the long term.
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