After three years of disruption, the new tram system - which carries 60,000 passengers a day for a flat fare of €1 - has given downtown Nice an overhaul and opened up northern areas of the city that were previously out on a limb.The proliferation of flights from the UK, including recently launched routes from London City Airport and numerous low-cost options from regional airports, have also helped to make Nice, the most visited city in France outside of Paris, more accessible than ever.
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Eurostar's new high-speed rail link to France could boost property investment in the country, according to experts.NuBricks.com said the new service between London's St Pancras station to Paris has led to a "substantial" increase in passenger numbers and revenues.As well as allowing Eurostar to compete more effectively with airlines, the rail link has also opened up markets such as Lille due to the reduction in journey times.
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The official average price per square meter for unoccupied old apartments in Paris rose by 2.7% between the 3rd and 4th quarter 2007 and by an impressing 10.5% in comparison with the 4th quarter 2006. The average price per square meter in “Paris Intramuros” was 6,360 €/ US$ 10,145.3 during the 4th quarter 2007 and 36,807 properties were sold in 2007It is very interesting to look at the development over the past ten years: in the fourth quarter 1997, the same average price stood at FRF 15,294/ US$ 3719.47 and it has since then increased by an impressing 172%.In 2007, the most expensive arrondissement once again was the 6th around “Saint Germain- des- Prés” and the “Luxembourg Garden”, where an average square meter cost €9.790/ US$ 15,616.70....
With so many property markets struggling with the credit crunch, various governments are battling away to try to restore some lost ground. In Britain this has come in the form of the Bank of England's £50 billion bond issue to try to create more liquidity in the mortgages market and bring down interbank lending rates. In Spain, the Daily Telegraph reported earlier this month, the government has sought to attract more investors by cutting capital gains tax.In France, all the measures seem to have been introduced already and for different reasons. Moves such as allowing mortgage payments to be offset against income tax are part of the declared aim Mr Sarkozy made to turn France into a nation of homeowners rather than renters.
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Nitsba Holdings Ltd. yesterday signed the sale contract for two office buildings in the Montrouge Pelletan neighborhood of Paris for €30 million. The Paris municipality has a 60-day first refusal rights to buy the property. Nitsba added that its subsidiary which owns the properties would post a pretax capital gain of €5.3 million on the sale. Nitsba owns 90% of the subsdiary.The two properties were leased to France Telecom until last month. Nitsba expects to close the deal by September.
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French Budget Min: To Sell Over EUR600 Million Of Real Estate In 08PARIS -(Dow Jones)- The French state wants to sell more than EUR600 million of real estate in 2008, French Budget Minister Eric Woerth said Wednesday."Last year we sold around EUR600 million of state-owned real estate. This year, I would like us to sell even more," Woerth said on French radio station France Inter.
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France real estate - Marseille, France's oldest city, is emerging as its newest entrant to the luxury real estate market.Only three hours from Paris by the fast TGV train, the city center still is in the process of renovation but it already has gleaming new boutiques, its own volume in the chic Louis Vuitton City Guide series, and a Michelin three-star restaurant, Le Petit Nice, whose third star was awarded this year."Marseille has changed. It has a new, more seductive identity and many people now want to come and live here," said Isabelle Viatte, who opened a Marseille office last autumn for Emile Garcin, one of the French real estate firms that deal exclusively in top of the line properties.
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LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - The Parisofficemarket is well placed this year to weather a global financial downturn, even though prime rents in the French capital have hit a ceiling, a report by CB Richard Ellis (CBG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (CBRE) showed on Monday."To conclude, 2008 could closely resemble 2007," the CBRE report said, forecasting an average 3-5 percent rise in average Paris office rents over the course of the year.The global property services firm said it expected the vacancy rate in Greater Paris to stay around 5 percent this year, indicating a market that was generally undersupplied.
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The Fishman subsidiary completed the purchase of another seven properties in France.Fishman Holdings subsidiary Jerusalem Economic Corp is in advanced talks to buy a property in Nantes, France, for €17.3 million in a buy and lease-back deal. The 15,244-square meter property is located on a 20-acre site. Annual rent is €1.52 million, giving a return on investment of 8.8%.JEC is in talks with a financial institution for a non-recourse loan for 84% of the purchase price.
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In the past few days, 32,000 town halls across France, from Paris to the meanest little village, will have welcomed their mayor, newly or re-elected, for the next six years. Impressively, nearly 70 per cent of the eligible population will have voted in the élections municipales but I am always a little mystified about what actually takes place at the mairies - apart from civil wedding ceremonies and endless drinks parties. Normally, however, they are imposing, easily recognisable buildings and therefore make ideal places for estate agents to meet me in my eternal quest for a new home in France.
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A deal-signing ceremony was held in Paris earlier this month between QNH and former owning company AGF Immobilier for the acquisition of the property situated in the heart of the business and commercial centre of Paris, on Rue d’Anjou and Rue de Faubourg Saint-Honore.QNH paid a total purchase price of 50mn euros. The property will be converted to a five-star hotel and is scheduled to open its doors in mid-2009.The acquisition is QNH’s second in Europe after the recently acquired 170-room Park Hyatt in Marbella, Spain, and the previous acquisition of a 384-room Renaissance Resort in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.“The newly acquired properties reflect the company’s investment and diversification strategy in well established, prestigious markets,” a spokesperson said.
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Hi, this is Tam Tree, hope you like the ParisEstate">real estate news blog.I need real estate authors from Paris to help me coverage the central paris area. Please send email if you like to participated in this effort. Thanks a lot !tamtree@gmail.com
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The four-level Belle Époque palace, on Boulevard Victor Hugo in the center of Nice, was built in 1908 for a Swiss industrialist and his family. It now is divided into six apartments — each of impressive size — and the Zeidans have parts of three levels, including a large kitchen in the basement.The second-floor neighbor lives in what was once the ballroom. The top-floor apartment, created from the reception rooms that were the artistic showpiece of the home, is on the market for 1.35 million euros, or a little more than $2 million. The other units, Ms. Connolly said, are each about 250 to 300 square meters (2,690 to 3,229 square feet) and worth nearly 1 million euros ($1.58 million).
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The BBC and Libé tie the stories into the broader issue of the French housing crisis. Property prices in Paris have soared in recent years, like those in most other European cities. Paris being more strictly limited geographically and politically than other cities (only the twenty arrondisements of Paris are the city proper, housing around 2.5 million people: The surrounding Paris region is home to another 8 million - but these do not merit the status of Parisians. As it is impossible to build upwards in the capital, housing is finite: This is made worse by the fact that thousands of apartments lie empty. Jeudi Noir, the militant housing pressure group which the BBC references in its report, advocates forcibly opening these empty properties to house needy families and individuals: Even moderate associations, including the Mayor of Paris's office, want to ensure that empty flats are used.
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The International Property Market (MIPIM) conference kicks off in Cannes, France today. MIPIM, which is the world's largest commercial property event and held this year for the 19th time, will wrap up Friday. More than 28,000 delegates from 85 countries are expected to participate in the event this year. Visitors include individual and institutional Estate">real estate investors, architects, city designers, property consultants, construction and hotel groups and municipal decision makers.The largest stands in the exhibition area are the stands of London and Russian regions.In addition, numerous other construction projects are exhibited at the fair. These inclu
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Paris real estate - Full-year profit today was fully in line with the group's guidance last month, when it disclosed 1.22 bln eur in writedowns due to its exposure to the subprime loan and monoline insurer crises.However Jean-Pierre Lambert of Keefe Bruyette & Woods said excluding writedowns, fourth-quarter figures showed the corporate and investmentbanking model is under pressure.Lambert also highlighted a potential risk of further writedowns, given that the bank seems active in commercial real estate and no disclosure has been given on CDO or monoline exposure.
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Description: This nice 19th century chateau in the heart of the vineyard offers about 1300 m² of living space on 4 levels. Needing decoration, perfect basic structure and roof. Outbuildings : garage, workshop, playground. Well, cellar.6800 m² of closed park . Possibility for business.
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Hammerson specializes in office and retail property in the U.K. and France and operates as a Estate">Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT, in both countries.CEO Richards said the French market remains strong. He said that although "France will not be entirely insulated from the economic slowdown," it is "a far more robust market" and "values are stable but not falling."He said the Paris office market is "much more diversified in terms of the spectrum of occupiers" than the City of London and also benefits from "very rigorous planning controls" which lead to constrained supply. France accounts for 28% of Hammerson's business by value.
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One of the first laws adopted was the "Loi Carrez" passed in the mid-1990s which requires sellers to indicate the exact size of the property when the sales contract is signed. If it is subsequently revealed that the actual size is more than 5% smaller than that stated in the contract, the buyer is entitled to claim a price reduction of the same proportion within a year of the purchase being completed.The so-called "Loi Bachelot du 30 juillet 2003 came into effect on 1st June 2006 which requires sellers and landlords of properties to deliver a certificate of "natural and technological hazards" ("les risques naturels et technologiques"). Information From: KHS Paris
Given the texts that have been ratified, the official positions, and the vote on the law that turned the right to housing justiciable (5 March 2007), who could doubt France’s commitment to guarantee the right to housing? However, the expectations of the right to housing persist and cover many situations: situations of occupation without legal protection, overcrowding, indecent lodgings unworthy of human habitation, people relegated to campgrounds, slums, lodgings in hotels and in group homes, people living in the street…France has signed the major texts adopted within the framework of the United Nations, which closely link the protection of adequate housing to the notion of human dignity. At the European leve
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French business confidence fell in February to the lowest in 13 months month and spending on manufactured goods slumped last month as accelerating inflation and slowing growth gripped the European economy.Insee, the Paris-based national statistics office, said today its index of sentiment was 107, the lowest since January 2007 and down from last month's revised 108. Spending dropped by 1.2 percent, the most since September 2006, Insee said in a separate report. Both were worse than economists expected.
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Up until now, Mandarine’s primary focus has been on residential, hotel and spa projects in Morocco and France. Fast-growing La Perla, which first made a name for itself on Spain’s Costa del Sol, currently has 14 residential projects under construction in France, Antigua, Spain, Panama and Vietnam. The company has another 19 projects in the planning stages, according to the press release announcing the deal.
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The group, which owns France's third largest mobile operator, Bouygues Telecom, generated revenues of 29.6 billion euros ($43.11 billion) in the 12 months to Dec. 31, up from 26.4 billion euros in 2006 and ahead of its own forecast of 29.25 billion euros.In the year, Bouygues Telecom sales rose 6 percent to 4.8 billion euros while the construction unit revenues rose 21 percent to 8.1 billion euros and real estate rose 29 percent to 2.01 billion euros.
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Property prices have, in fact, been rising steadily over the last 5 years, especially for attractive stone properties with demand far outstripping supply. However, at the moment barns in need of complete renovatio and with some land, cost around 50,000 Euros. Village houses with no outside space (ideal lock up and leave holiday homes) can be bought for an average price of 70,000 Euros whilst the sought after 3 bedroom renovated stone cottage with a garden in a convenient location will cost around 160,000 to 180,000 Euros. A tip here – if you manage to find one at this price, don’t think about it for too long as it seems nearly everyone wants one of these. Character properties with land will cost around 250,000 Euros plus.
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With Parisian Estate">real estate prices climbing rapidly over the last several years, on average 10% per annum since 2000, many potential buyers have been priced out of the market or found a purchase difficult to justify given only visiting the city a few weeks a year. And with the rise in the Euro, many would-be buyers are frustrated to discover that even a significant investment won't buy a good property in a desirable location.FractionalParis.com
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SeLoger.com, France's leading player in online real estate services, generated consolidated revenues of EUR57.2m in 2007, up 51.6% relative to the 2006 figure of EUR37.7m.In Paris, SeLoger.com's penetration rate was 73%, with 4,439 customers (a net year-on-year increase of 410) representing 5,614 branches. The average spend per customer in December 2007 was EUR373.
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Figures for the third quarter of 2007 showed an 8.7% increase in ParisEstate">real estate prices in one year, with the average price of old and unoccupied apartments reaching €6,181/ USD 9,134.58 per square meter. This amounts to an increase of 75.5% in the last five years. These latest figures were revealed by the Paris Notary Chamber last week.
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ING Estate">Real Estate said the acquisition will enable it to expand its activities in France, and it is anticipated to deliver an increasing market share.Geo-de has a project pipeline totalling some 100,000 square metres, and plans to mainly develop mixed-use inner-city projects.
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PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Fonciere des Regions said it bought a 190,000 square metre Estate">real estate portfolio from Eiffage for 102 mln eur.The properties, mostly rented to Eiffage businesses, generate 8.7 mln eur in annual rent, the group said in a statement.
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With faster train services, it's never been easier to reach a French farmhouse or Spanish villa without flying or driving, writes Zoe Dare Hall. "In the past two years, I've seen a massive increase in people choosing trains because of eco-concerns," says Mark Smith, who runs www.seat61.com, a guide to train routes and fares. "You'd think that people would mainly be pootling to France and Belgium but for a long time Italy was the most popular destination, followed by Spain then France," he adds.
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Investors in French property could be in line to benefit from recent changes in the country's tax regime. French president Nicolas Sarkozy has introduced widespread reforms that will have a direct impact on property owners, such as trebling the inheritance tax (IHT) threshold. This will mean that only the richest people will be subject to the tax, with 95 per cent of property owners now exempted.
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"The house is a sort of livable sculpture," Trigano said. "Le Corbusier invented a beautiful expression for his houses that I think we can use here: 'inhabitable poems.' You feel you are in a refuge completely isolated from the world. We lived there for 15 years. It was formidable. "The asking price for the four-level house, which is 400 square meters or 4,300 square feet, is €4 million, or almost $5.5 million. The site totals 6,000 square meters, or about 1.5 acres, and there is a caretaker's house and a garage.
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Nexity combines broad-based know-how and expertise in real estate to serve its clients, whether they are private individuals, companies or local authorities. A leader in all the businesses of real estate –turnkey urban developer, real estate development (housing, offices, trade and business), real estate services to retail and corporate clients, distribution networks, specialised financing and asset management– Nexity has become a unique player in the French property market, capable of providing its clients with solutions to all their requirements. Nexity is present all over France and elsewhere in Europe, with operations in Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic and in Switzerland.
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Carrefour, the French supermarket chain and the world’s second-biggest retailer, said Thursday that it planned to sell part of its real estate portfolio in an initial public offering, bowing to pressure from investors including the French billionaire Bernard Arnault. The company will sell a 20 percent stake in its Carrefour propertyunit next year. The unit owns 280 superstores and 540 smaller supermarkets in Europe — 60 percent of Carrefour’s real estate.
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Barwa International, Barwa Real Estate Company's global arm, has awarded a contract to a strategic investor to sell the ParisConvention Centre in Paris, France, at a cost of 456m euros, the company announced here yesterday. "The company has taken the decision of selling the Paris Convention Centre after considering many factors, one of which is the rise of price offered which resulted in a high investment profit for the company during the few months between the purchase and sale dates.
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The value of assets fell sharply amid an increase in defaults of subprime mortgages in the United States. Investors began to pull funds and creditors started asking for more collateral to back their loans, causing a credit crunch. Lagarde said French banks have a "very limited exposure" to subprime products. The real estate market — which her government is trying to stimulate through tax exemptions on interest payments — should not be affected, she said. Keen to avoid any risk to France's fragile economic growth, she urged banks not to tighten credit for companies "simply because it is time for them to finance investment."
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With Nicolas Sarkozy taking over the French presidency and instituting several new property tax incentives, forecasters are predicting a major property boom. To encourage U.S. property owners looking for secure investments overseas, Propriété Direct France, marketer for the largest property developers in France, has launched a new Web site, overseas real estate in the French market and provides information about seminars held in the United States. Propriété Direct France also plans to increase the number of U.S. seminars to continuously inform potential buyers.
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More Britons than ever are buying and renovating properties in France. Miranda Ingram, our French property expert, will be offering daily advice and leading debates on everything from developing in the Dordogne to living in the Loire.
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A report earlier this year highlighted Paris' position as top city for property investment. The Emerging Trends in Real Estate® report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute underlines the city's economic stability and sustainability, as well as placing Paris in first place for supply and demand balance. Unlike the UK, this balance means there's a good chance buyers will find the sort of property they're looking for, and sellers will typically not have long to wait when selling up. What's more, the plans of the new President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to provide tax breaks to encourage home ownership will surely have a positive impact on rent return and capital growth over the next few years.
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The property market in France is experiencing persistent development due to continuing demand from overseas investors, according to SPC Overseas. France's property prices were also identified as being traditionally cheaper than those of other European countries.
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