Agentimmo Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 just back from a week on the coast and what surprised me is how relatively few people were on holiday, in shops or in restaurants... is this a sign of la crise? Even today's tailbacks were not that bad. What coast were you on ? I went to Cannes yesterday. Very hot, so headed to our favourite ice-cream shop. Italian lady owner said it had been very quiet since the start of July. Not as many tourists as previous years. We've also noticed that the roads are busy , but not blocked. A sign that the brits, dutch etc are staying at home? We'll see how bad "la crise" is when the July holidaymakers cross the August holidaymakers on the roads in the last weekend of July. Like yourself, I suspect there will be a lot less cars on the roads compared to previous years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Saw in yesterday's JDD (www.jdd.fr) that the govt will be scrapping income tax relief on housing; eg. loi Scellier, Robien etc. Looks like these schemes are no longer affordable in times of austerity. Good news. Also expect some reform or scrapping of PEL's. The govt hates these as they are not used to buy houses but to keep monet tied up at a decent rate of interest. Apparently the French banks have 770billion euros in PEL accounts. No doubt Sarko would like us all to cash them in and start consuming in the shops http://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/18526232.htm?ca=6_s You are right up to date and its about time that the French G'vt stopped all of these tax relief schemes !! They actually give (away) over 700 billion euros in tax incentives to the French Property market often to VIs and there rich investors Times are not so easy if you are looking for cheap property look at my link Property for sale original price 40,000 euros four years ago In four years the price has been divided by four( so much for French property evaluations) Today for sale 'net vendor' at 10,000 euros in the Finistére, Brittany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/economie/bulle-immobiliere-menace-creer-geneve-eclater-2010-07-11 Tribune de Genève today Une bulle immobilier menace de se crèer a Genève ,puis d' èclater A property bubble is menacing Geneva and then it will blow up Quote Three famous property experts are worried about a property crash in the Genéva/Lausanne area Prices are out out of control mortages are low But until when? An obvious "overheating " of prices Dangerous property loans have been given to "high - risk clients" ie bad payers The "Mad Years" of +20% increases no lessons have been learned(the banks refuse to reply to serious questions) Immigration has slowed down the demand for property due to high immigration is over Bye, Bye Genéve/ Lausanne property game over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 http://www.gagnez-notre-maison.com/ Gagnez notre maison Win our house for 30 euros A family in debt have decided to "sell" there 'maison secondaire' by using a quiz type game-show style yes and no questions and answers The property in question is estimated by local EAs at a price of 450,000 to 530,000 euros The 'seller' a father of three children actually unemployed and up to his eye's in debt (sign of the times) His idea is to sell tickets for 30 euros with a few questions thrown in to make it look serious but its actually a lottery Actually this is forbidden in France and it has never worked due to a law that dates back to 1836 but it was moderized in 1924!!! The same happened last year in the Ardeche a family tryed to sell there home to be near there son that was in hospital in Lyon The lottery ticket system was refused by a French Court BTW the 'vendor in the new quiz is actually an ex-EA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 http://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/117350375.htm?ca=2_s Maison perigourdine dans le Périgord blanc A perigourdine house (for sale) in a hamlet in the white Périgord Price a 100,000 euros 20 kms from Perigueux in a pretty hamlet next to a river God knows when this house was built ? Perhaps a 100 or 200 years ago When they say that its next to a river ,it looks like its in the river ! Handy for going fishing though you can even go fishing without leaving the house just cast your fishing rod from one of the bedroom windows BTW don't forget to buy a life-jacket in case of floods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidg Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 Tribune de Genève today Une bulle immobilier menace de se crèer a Genève ,puis d' èclater I was walking around Bossey village above GVA yesterday, it has a very nice golf course and looks over lake Geneva. There is a little estate of so-so modern houses by the golf course. On the one road we walked along there were three empty houses, two for sale and one for rent. I was surprised. Couldn't read the estate agent signs as it was getting dark so couldn't check the outrageous prices. Still they are building like mad in the village - loads of rabbit hutch appts overlooking the quarry on one side and the railline and autoroute on the other... with no balconies even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidg Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 (edited) What coast were you on ? Other side of St Tropez near the Sarkozies. We are in Cannes quite a bit as a friend has an appt. near the festival hall thingie - at the end of Rue d'Antibes. Will have to give you a PM next time we are down, probably at Toussaint. Also expect some reform or scrapping of PEL's. I've got two years left to run on mine...at 4% interest. Edited July 15, 2010 by davidg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 I was walking around Bossey village above GVA yesterday, it has a very nice golf course and looks over lake Geneva. http://www.ge.ch/rss/affiche_detail.asp?guid=3890 Republique et canton de Geneve 16/07/10 Statistique des transactions :Resulants du 2eme trimestre 2010 Stats of property transactions .Results of the 2end quarter 2010 Quote During the 2end quarter of 2010 ,601 property transactions have been registered These number figure in the high bracket when compared to the same the same period in 2007 and in 2008 and is far superior than the figures corresponding for 2009 A high number of flats have been sold a total of 348 during this quarter The number of individual houses sold a 126 is situated in the average of these last few years So what happened in 2009 ? Have the numbers vanished Do the Swiss call Lac Leman ,Lac Geneva ? Or is it only the French that call it Lac Leman when its real name is Lac Geneve I could never work out this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidg Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 During the 2end quarter of 2010 ,601 property transactions have been registered Sounds like a pretty stagnant pond, the Geneve housing market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 http://www.sudouest.fr/2010/07/15/une-agence-immobiliere-detruite-par-un-incendie-a-hendaye-64-140085-4171.php Everything seems to be calm next to the pond Not like in Grenoble at Villeneuve is there a war going on there ? I see that because the police shot dead 'Karim' who was shooting at the police while trying to escape after an armed robbery at a casino in the Isere The youths of the city decided to burn over 60 cars last friday night they are even shooting at the police from there bedroom windows Last night they only burned 15 cars having said that with over 300 crs the raid and the gipn with guns and helicopters etc They seemed to of calmed down Talking about violence this time its property going up in flames Basque country last wednesday night they (probably ETA) smashed an estate agency window then they poured petrol into the agency and set it alite they also burnt there two agency cars as well (just to make sure) This is third burning of estate agencys this year not forgetting they attacked a bank and even tried to set fire to a police station!! I wouldn't recommend opening up an Estate Agency in Pays Basque Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reluctant Heretic Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 (edited) Hi French Property buffs. Do any of you have any views, personal anecdotes or otherwise on the wisdom of planning to renovate a barn in Brittany (or anywhere easy to reach by Ferry) possibly with a view to holiday letting? I have been reading French property forums but I sense a soft sell ("buy now in 2010 before prices rise again" -type messages). Thanks in anticipation for any contributions Edited July 19, 2010 by Reluctant Heretic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Hi French Property buffs. Do any of you have any views, personal anecdotes or otherwise on the wisdom of planning to renovate a barn in Brittany (or anywhere easy to reach by Ferry) possibly with a view to holiday letting? I have been reading French property forums but I sense a soft sell ("buy now in 2010 before prices rise again" -type messages). Thanks in anticipation for any contributions http://www.007infrance.blogspot.com/ If you are looking for anecdotes in Brittany read the blog in english Amusing stories about a young woman who moves to France (Brittany) A personal and honest view of the feelings rollercoaster experienced when faced with the elements,solitude the French and broken bones (quote) BTW the blog ends in 2009 she said in her last message that she was packing her bags and leaving Do you speak French fluent French not the hello ,goodbye what time is it French? You can only hide behind a sky-box for a certain time but you will have to be able to talk to the French otherwise you risk being considered as someone apart or being isolated eg lonely or laughed at another one that can't fit in the locals will place bets on the date that you pack up and leave Why do you want to live in a barn? The French don't live in barns ! Brittany does have a tourist industry but in modern camp-sites What other French Property forums are you talking about ? Prices in Paris are going up In places near Brittany thinking of 'La Baule' property is expensive nearly a million euros to buy a house Prices in Nice and Cannes are still high the same can be said for any region in France where people want to live This is due to Low interest rates A lack of land eg Cannes ,Nice Paris etc Also something that is very important the vast majority of French property owners have good jobs with a decent pay and they are not up to there eyes in debt They will ride out the depression and they will not just give away there property nor will put there prices down because of a simple fact that they paid a high price and they don't want to lose out If you add on a lack of land to build on, there property will still stay at a high price! Having said that this does not apply to Brittany a cold ,unemployment black-spot where nobody wants to live unless they want to spend the rest of there life on the dole ! Things aren't good but some people are doing ok Doom and Gloom but not for everybody If you want to be near England what about buying in Calais ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agentimmo Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Hi Redwine, I agree with most of your reply above, except this little part : This is due to Low interest rates A lack of land eg Cannes ,Nice Paris etc Lack of land ? Cannes and Nice have always been enclaves. The thing that has changed in the last 10yrs of the property bubble is that houses or spare land in these towns have been bulldozed and replaced by 5 to 8 storey appt blocks. More proftable to the builders, banks and property speculators Prices WERE affordable from the start of the 90s until the mid-90s as the last property bubble burst. This new bubble, which is much, much bigger still has some way to go to deflate. I agree that the average French person is less indebted that their UK or US counterpart. But most, if not all, of this current bubble is due to loose credit and low interest rates. Once that is removed, prices will fall even futher than they have today.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidg Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Not like in Grenoble at Villeneuve is there a war going on there ? Yes it is pretty exciting. 15 years of the Destot regime turning a blind eye to criminality and that is what you get. (a gang arrested with pump action shotguns at 2am a couple of months ago were released due to "lack of proof")... maybe they were going boar hunting? The town is quite surprising now. There are squatter camps similar to Soweto developing around the town. The Ile d'Amour is home to hundreds of illegally constructed shacks and as you go around the Rocade near the St Martin d'Heres exit you will see more by the railway line. The CRS cleared those out last month at 6am (holding up the train to Geneva) but they were virtually rebuilt by the evening. Basically a place to avoid, especially the old Olympic Village which used to be a nice modern development but is now run by criminal gangs and the police can only enter with military force as you note above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiterabbit Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 I have just been renting a house with the family in the Dordogue near Sarlat, seems like the whole place is for sale. Every agent I have been by has been empty and there seems to be less tourists than usual everywhere. On a personal note the house we rented has had a sewer problem which took a week to fix. The British owner refuses to compensate us in any way and the letting agent is powerless to do anything. What are my options: Report the owner in France and try and sue him. Report the owner in the UK and try and sue him. Not bother with either and just report him to the French and UK tax authorites. I am sure he isn't reporting the income. If we go this route who do we report him to in France? Its not so much the money as the fact that the owner thinks he can get away with charging us good money for a home with known sewer issues and now is basically telling us to go and f**k outselves in terms of any compensation. He isn't apologetic in any way and we have now found out the previous tennant had the same issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reluctant Heretic Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 http://www.007infrance.blogspot.com/ If you are looking for anecdotes in Brittany read the blog in english Amusing stories about a young woman who moves to France (Brittany) A personal and honest view of the feelings rollercoaster experienced when faced with the elements,solitude the French and broken bones (quote) BTW the blog ends in 2009 she said in her last message that she was packing her bags and leaving Do you speak French fluent French not the hello ,goodbye what time is it French? You can only hide behind a sky-box for a certain time but you will have to be able to talk to the French otherwise you risk being considered as someone apart or being isolated eg lonely or laughed at another one that can't fit in the locals will place bets on the date that you pack up and leave Why do you want to live in a barn? The French don't live in barns ! Brittany does have a tourist industry but in modern camp-sites What other French Property forums are you talking about ? Prices in Paris are going up In places near Brittany thinking of 'La Baule' property is expensive nearly a million euros to buy a house Prices in Nice and Cannes are still high the same can be said for any region in France where people want to live This is due to Low interest rates A lack of land eg Cannes ,Nice Paris etc Also something that is very important the vast majority of French property owners have good jobs with a decent pay and they are not up to there eyes in debt They will ride out the depression and they will not just give away there property nor will put there prices down because of a simple fact that they paid a high price and they don't want to lose out If you add on a lack of land to build on, there property will still stay at a high price! Having said that this does not apply to Brittany a cold ,unemployment black-spot where nobody wants to live unless they want to spend the rest of there life on the dole ! Things aren't good but some people are doing ok Doom and Gloom but not for everybody If you want to be near England what about buying in Calais ? Thanks Redwine and to everyone else. I thought I would just pick up on a few questions above. It gives me a chance to talk on a level I can't in the 'real world' (my female friends just look at me blankly when I talk about political/economic issues - you can feel isolated even when surrounded by people who speak your native language!!!). I am going to do a bit of soul bearing but I sense that I am in the company of rational, decent people so I hope that everyone has something to gain. I work in the property industry as an admin-manager but I hate the greed element - hence the heretic bit. (I am a religious heretic too but that is another matter). It is a constant struggle between my conscience and my duties to my employers. Recently I have been personally involved in the refurbishment of a block of run-down flats (instead of farming the work out) and I loved it. I am yearning to do more than shift paper and number crunch. I also love languages and I would be teaching English overseas so that I could become competent in other languages if it was not for my 12 year old. I just want to do the best I can with my financial resources (£160k) for my family (two boys) and be creative but using the skills and knowledge I have already acquired. I don't want to be a property tycoon, I just don't want to squander what I have acquired by hard work and scrupulous self-discipline. I am renting in the UK at the moment as I watch the UK market, I might buy a small property in the next 12 months depending on what happens and use the rest of my money to have an adventure. (My lads would love it too). I don't want to move to France permanently. I was thinking about 50:50. (is that daft/stupid?) (Hence the holiday let idea). The information on the market situation in France is really helpful (everyone else). Where do you go to get information on the market fundamentals - what is the French equivalent of HP/RM price indice? Land registry? etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reluctant Heretic Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 When I say forums, I meant forums attached to sales websites, e.g. http://www.french-property.com/ http://forums.1st-for-french-property.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?fid=25 http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-property/ http://www.propertycommunity.com/forum/french-property/18567-why-invest-real-estate.html http://www.francepropertyshop.com/home-search.aspx?partner=fpn®ionId=4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidg Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 The English in the Perigord, as seen by Rip Torn http://www.riphopkins.com/works/54-0 from the book: Another Country, les britanniques en France; ed. Filigranes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 When I say forums, I meant forums attached to sales websites, e.g. Are you advertising ? What about the other forums expats.org.uk connexionfrance.com totalfrance.com angloinfo.com francethis way .com the blog You will find all of the information that you need on these forums Whiterabbit can even get all of the legal advice that he wants there Your links and the above sites all go together (they are mates) I like' france this way 'he even talks about politics which as you stated was one of your passions He runs a gite but so do nearly 90% of the French who live in the Limousin (hes not alone) I like his section on 'French language difficulties' quote You remember "bonjour" and "merci" and a few others Hes getting better going as far as saying "Hello how are you" and (the hard one) "I am very well thanks and you ?" "Salut,ça va " "ça va bien et toi?" This does date back to 2007 so today hes probably learnt how to tell the time! At this speed it will probably take him at least a 100 years to speak French Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 The English in the Perigord, as seen by Rip Torn http://www.riphopkins.com/works/54-0 from the book: Another Country, les britanniques en France; ed. Filigranes. I saw this but i didn't dare posting it nothing to do with property but very funny ,thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Hi Redwine, I agree with most of your reply above, except this little part : Lack of land ? Cannes and Nice have always been enclaves. The thing that has changed in the last 10yrs of the property bubble is that houses or spare land in these towns have been bulldozed and replaced by 5 to 8 storey appt blocks. More proftable to the builders, banks and property speculators Prices WERE affordable from the start of the 90s until the mid-90s as the last property bubble burst. This new bubble, which is much, much bigger still has some way to go to deflate. I agree that the average French person is less indebted that their UK or US counterpart. But most, if not all, of this current bubble is due to loose credit and low interest rates. Once that is removed, prices will fall even futher than they have today.......... http://www.lemoniteur.fr/133-amenagement/article/actualite/706734-ajaccio-bayonne-nice-perpignan-les-villes-les-plus-attractives-de-france Hi 'Agentimmo' Nice won't fall sorry to say it look at the link and use the zoom (hope that it works) The 1990s crash was an overnight crash i remember the famous 'start-ups' internet at the time they all crashed more or less at the same time Nice is one of the top four cities in France Due to its climate Local shops easy access Hotels Also a high % of doctors good health-care etc Sorry i have to go theres a lighting storm here due to the heat (a problem with living here) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Yes it is pretty exciting. 15 years of the Destot regime turning a blind eye to criminality and that is what you get. (a gang arrested with pump action shotguns at 2am a couple of months ago were released due to "lack of proof")... maybe they were going boar hunting? The town is quite surprising now. There are squatter camps similar to Soweto developing around the town. The Ile d'Amour is home to hundreds of illegally constructed shacks and as you go around the Rocade near the St Martin d'Heres exit you will see more by the railway line. The CRS cleared those out last month at 6am (holding up the train to Geneva) but they were virtually rebuilt by the evening. Basically a place to avoid, especially the old Olympic Village which used to be a nice modern development but is now run by criminal gangs and the police can only enter with military force as you note above. http://bettencourtlarbrequicacheraitlaforet.blog.tdg.ch/archive/2010/07/23/les-15-engagements-pour-la-france.html The Swiss point de vue Politics the 15 promises for France the UMP or Sarko Well worth reading the last line "Reste-t-il encore assez de français pour y croire!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reluctant Heretic Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 (edited) Did anyone see this last night? Apartments in Paris. I find it so weird how I found this program fascinating and absorbing but I can't watch the same thing in based in England where it just sickens and annoys me (maybe because the property ramping in this country affects me and my family personally? Or maybe England is a total ripoff? At least in France you can buy a tumble down shed and make it habitable if you choose to? non?) http://www.channel4.com/programmes/a-place-in-the-sun-home-or-away/4od#3097404 Maybe I just love France? I am generally appalled at why anyone would spend £150k-£300k on a 2/3 bed flat when they could get a house for the same money, but in Paris it makes sense. [Thanks again for the website suggestions - the kindness of strangers is amazing] [Also - I find 'Parallel Text - Short stories in French' (Penguin) helps keep up my language skills to a just tolerable level] I'm reading now your comments on market direction - I am staggered to hear that there can be a land shortage in France???!!! I suppose if Sarkozy is on his way out the future will depend on his replacement? Rip Hopkins' photographic portraits are amazing, I can't help feeling sorry for the donkey in this one though! http://www.riphopkins.com/works/54-12 Edited July 24, 2010 by Reluctant Heretic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 . [Thanks again for the website suggestions - the kindness of strangers is amazing] I am staggered to hear that there can be a land shortage in France???!!! I never said that there was a land shortage in all of France! I said that there was a land shortage in Nice,Cannes,La Baule and Paris (the centre) not 50kms away Another example of a land shortage is Chamonix just up the road from where i live I haven't noticed any new housing estates being built there These towns and citys all have one thing in common they are expensive I am pleased that you liked my website suggestions you will find all of the info that you will ever need to buying property in France on these sites Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwine Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/jul/24/lets-move-to-quercy-france The Guardian 24/7/10 Lets move to Quercy south-west France Its forgotten but for how long ? Quote Nobodys heard of Quercy ? Well thats bloody obvious because Quercy is an old name for a province in France Today there is no dept or region called Quercy i think that this region was called Quercy in the 12th Century The usual its dead easy to get there (sort of) by the TGV I like this phase "There are a few scraps of France that are not conquered by the Brits" Really? You get the impression that its full of Brits living there ! They talk about villages called Lauzerte and Montaigu de Quercy Lauzerte 1990 population 1529 2007 population 1503 Montaigu de Quercy 1990 population 1634 1999 population 1440 (wiki figures the last ones that i could find) So why are the population figures falling if its a run with the Brits ? Property for sale nearly all renovation jobs (the locals have all left) Worth checking out population figures if they are going up its a good sign ,going down a bad sign generally speaking of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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