Americans, British, Italians… where do they invest in stone in France, in what types of goods and at what price? The Superior Council of Notaries (CSN) has just published a complete report, the results of which we will be revealing to you exclusively. First lesson, between 2008 and 2018, the share of non-resident foreign buyers fell from 2.5% to 1.7%. This represents 180,000 foreigners who made the choice to buy real estate in France in 2018.
"In ten years, we have gone from 600,000 real estate transactions to 1 million and it is logical that, proportionally, the share of foreign buyers decreases", explains Me Thierry Delesalle, co-president of the Notarial Institute of Real Estate Law of the CSN. This figure also varies enormously from one region to another, foreigners more favoring the South (4% against 0.9% in Ile-de-France in 2018).
In Brittany, 1 in 2 foreign buyers is British
The top spot remains occupied by the British (28%), far ahead of the Belgians (19%) and the Germans (7%). “Always very present in France and first buyers in the West, the Center West and the Massif Central, the British buy less, tempers the expert. In 2015, they represented 38% of buyers, or 10 points more! ". Reason for this decline? "The British pound is falling and offers a less advantageous exchange rate which reduces their purchasing power", notes the Parisian notary. If British residents in France have an interest in taking advantage of low rates, this is obviously not the case for non-residents, some of whom may have been held back by the fear of a “hard Brexit”.
On the price side, "the goods available to the British are generally houses to renovate, resulting in a lower transaction amount than the local average in the regions where they invest", analyzes Me Delesalle. Thus in Brittany, the British - one in two foreign non-resident buyers! - pay their house on average 114,000 euros against 162,000 euros for a French resident. In the Center, where they represent 6 buyers out of ten non-residents, they invest on average 90,000 euros against 130,000 euros for the French.
At the head of purchases in the South and in Ile-de-France, the share of Italian buyers is down 20 points in ten years. In Provence Côte d'Azur-Corsica alone, it plummets by 15 points… This disaffection would be linked to the implementation by the Italian government of an unfavorable tax regime in the event of the purchase of a second home in the foreign. And this withdrawal of the Italians is already benefiting the Chinese, almost non-existent in 2008, the Spanish and the Portuguese, who, together, have gained 10 points in ten years.
No more purchases from resident foreigners
Conversely, the study notes a significant increase in the number of purchases by foreigners residing in France (4.2% in 2018, compared to 3.7% in 2008). They even represent 9% of buyers in Ile-de-France, their highest level since 2015.
This increase can also be explained quite logically. "Foreign residents buy because they are aware that they can borrow more easily thanks to the low interest rates with us, which is not the case with them," emphasizes the notary. In England, rates are indeed variable and close to 4.5% at the moment, compared to a fixed rate of almost 3% in Italy ”. France, with a historically low rate of almost 1% (excluding insurance) in 2019, has, it is true, enough to whet appetites.
