Smog

I've just (in the last couple of minutes) transferred a big chunk of savings from Santander..... I've been dithering on this for a while now.... decided the risk just isn't worth it. Gone into my Smile (Co-Op) account... should be a bit safer at least.

There are two stories here.... 1. Tax breaks creating a bubble.... this is an old one... yes, Robien / Scellier and the like did inflate the price of apartments in cities across France leading to oversupply... but these prices have already dropped and no-one is buying... the market is stagnant at best and has been for a good few years. 2. Paris property bubble... this is continuing and is in for a fall, they seem to be living in some kind of 2007 dreamland in Paris... this is not reflected throughout France by any means.

Isn't the simple fact that they lost a large order to a German company telling enough ? They may me able to make trains cheaper in Germany as the average German worker doesn't need to spend half his salary on a mortgage.

Agentimmo.... This might be true where you live but it's not real France is it Anywhere where holiday homes make up a large percentage of the housing stock is in for a big crash, stuff is simply not moving and hasn't been for years. Foreign buyers pumped up the market, lack of foreign buyers will crash it. These simple fundamentals won't change in the medium term. Areas where real people live and work are not that bad, round by me the economy appears to be improving, companies are hiring and most people seem cautiously optimistic. Housing market is still stagnant though and 20% off asking price is an expected starting point. I don't expect a further crash here. Could be that I live close to Germany though

This is just simply misleading. Paris can probably account for most, if not all, of the price rises. Anywhere else in France worth living has at best been stagnant for a few years, at worst had a 15-20% fall. Areas populated by holiday homes have dropped even more. I seriously wonder how much these so called experts really know.

I'll just add one thing.... Aren't you two old enough to know better ? It's like an argument between my two kids. "He started it" "No, she started it" "She says sorry first" "No he says sorry first" Can we get back to discussing house prices now

Oberschaeffolsheim... not a million miles from me, but far enough thankfully, it will be interesting to see how they portray that place... people do live there but like most villages around Strasbourg it's a complete ghost town every day but Saturday afternoon. Also just down the road from the sh*tholes of Lingolsheim and Koenigshoffen, not sure the crime rate figure would be nice to look at.

Saw an episode of "Build, Buy, Restore" over the weekend, from 2006. Couple with two kids in a two-bedroom house, believed they had a budget of £220k (including equity in current house), presenter pulls out a figure from an envelope they really could borrow of £335k. So off they set looking at options, turns out they choose the build option, at £380k after being persuaded to somehow manage to overcome the £45k shortfall through bridging loans, re-mortgaging at appropriate point etc.... The presenter was really pushing them to stretch themselves. He then let slip it would be an IO mortgage. How the F can they gey away with that ? Actually felt sorry for the couple.

The sellers ?

"where is all this money going to go?" What money ? There is no money, just countless numbers of empty properties with yet-to-be-realised-profits which will be impossible to sell.

Not had any problems with Smile in the 8 years I've been with them, apart from being a bit keen to block my card every time I used it abroad without telling them... prefer them this way though.

This is a timely reminder to me too... Be transferring my money to Smile (Co-op) tomorrow.... if they'll let me that is.

Although I'm with you in principle 100%.... it is a fait-accompli. Savers are going to continue suffering. Never be a saver when the government is a huge borrower. Time to live by this maxim.

....as opposed to the Daily Mail, for the hard-of-tolerance masses.

redwine.... the petitscailloux link was me... have to spread the word Seems the woman who found out the agent has overpriced her property by 44k is not too happy

I'm becoming convinced this article is just VI spin. I can't believe anyone could be that gullible, I'm sure it's no more than an advertisement for Provencal agents immobiliers. Just look at some of the the twitter comments from some of those agents, including one for "Prestige", the agency she used. Seems like a huge con trick they're trying to pull. Wouldn't be surprised if she'd bought the place at a huge discount in return for a bit of free advertising to gullible English buyers in the Telegraph.

Is that article supposed to be advice ? Clearly there are still agents in the South of France more than willing to bullshiiit the Brits, and getting away with it by the looks of it. That journalist is nothing short of a gullible idiot.

I'd be very surprised if Fettes Row closed....they could in theory relocate the IT staff to Drummond House. I looked at the Scotsman online and didn't see anything about Fettes... you have a link ?

Do something your grandad would have wanted you to do with it.... ...buy a round the world air-ticket and drink & shag your way round the world. You won't regret that when you get to your old age.

Agentimmo.... I'd like to ask your advice.... I'm still keen on buying something down your way, initially as somewhere to holiday (we live northern France), at some point in the not too distant future, as somewhere to live full time. I quite like the area between Grasse and Vence, around Tourettes-sur-Loup as an example (I need to be close to an airport). I've monitored this area for a while and there are plenty of terrains of about 25 ares which could tempt me at the right price... they're clearly not selling like hot cakes. Do you know this area ? Is it reasonable in terms of quality of life, schools etc.. ? Is it predominantly holiday homes ? Anywhere else you think might be better ? Any advice would be welcome.

I'd have to echo RedWine's comment and advise renting if you are serious about moving with a family. Before we moved to France 6 years ago, we were pretty sure the area we wanted to live. We moved in a hurry and just rented the first available decent property in the town at 50% less rent than we were paying in the UK and a property double the size. Now, although the town was fine, we subsequently found that a nearby town had more to offer, better schools, better neighbourhood etc... and ended up buying there 18 months after arriving (luckily I negotiated 25% off asking price even then as we had no chain). Local knowledge can only be gained by living there. I understand the need to get settled and rooted, but the big move was England to France, the move to our purchased house was simple by comparison, a few weekends and a small van.

Redwine... thanks for the "statsimmo" link, looks very useful. I've been over here 6 years now, all my in-laws are French, no intention of ever moving back, very well settled where we are, only reason I'm constantly looking at seloger, pap & the like is because my parents and aunt/uncle want to follow me over here. I make it back to the UK regularly and to be quite frank, I hate the place, and its only getting worse. I'm lucky that my employer had no problems with me moving here and changing to a French contract, although if I ever lose this job things might get a bit more difficult. Still, my half-French son & I will obviously be cheering on England in the world cup and not those cheese eating surrender monkeys

Hi SLL, Not my area of france so I can't help on specifics.... But I'd start by looking on http://www.seloger.com, most agents advertise on it and it has a useful map feature so you can browse the surrounding areas. Alongside this, I'd use http://www.petitscailloux.com/ - you can use the links from seloger to find out historic prices for individual properties, or click on "biens morts" to see reduced properties in a postcode (thanks to redwine for this link - there are details earlier in this thread). Also, try www.pap.fr for private sales. That should get you started. Best thing to do would be to choose several areas you are interested in and go visit them for a few days out of season, say late May time, you'll get a better idea of if they are alive or dead.

You can already view properties for sale in Australia using Google Streetview - its only a matter of time that it makes it to the UK, after all, who wouldn't want to virtually visit a potential property on streetview before wasting time with an estate agent ?

I forgot to mention, it's for BTL too. I can't believe any lender would have a deal like this.