Nearly 10% of homes in Paris are a maison secondaire, so where are they and who owns them?

We normally associate second homes with a property located by the sea, in the mountains or in the countryside.

However, some large cities in France have a significant proportion of properties that are second homes.

In Paris, out of a total of 1.9 million homes, over 126,000 are second homes, equivalent to 9% of the stock. That is only exceeded by Nice, where 11% of the stock are second homes, and far in excess of third-placed Bordeaux (3.5%).

As can be seen from the graphic below, the percentage number of second homes in the capital varies enormously, ranging from between 14% to 20% in the central districts (arrondissements) down to 3% to 4% in the outer districts.

In volume terms the 15e and 16e arrondissements have the most second homes (more than 10,000 each) followed by the 6e, 7e, 11e, 17e and 18e, each with between 7,000 and 9,000.

Approximately one third of the properties are occupied by a household other than the owner, used, for instance, as pied-à-terre during the week for work in Paris, while the main dwelling is elsewhere in France. The other second homes in the capital (80, 500) are used exclusively by their owners.

Of those properites occupied solely by their owner, 42% have their main residence in the Ile-de-France, 38% elsewhere in France, and nearly 20% are owned by those who live abroad.

Overseas based owners may be either French or of foreign nationality, with their ownership of properties overwhelmeingly concentrated in the 1e, 3e, 4e 6e and 7e districts (see below).

Most foreign nationals are from Europe (60%), mainly Italy, Switzerland and the UK. The Italian craze for Paris is particularly strong, being the largest group of foreign nationals in 15 of the 20 districts. They have long-held an interest on owning property in Paris as a safe-haven investment out of Italy.

In the remaining 5 districts, American nationals have the strongest presence in the 13e to the 16e, and in the 17e the Swiss are the large contingent of foreign nationals.

UK nationals figure more prominently as residents of Paris, where, according to the latest (2016) figures from Insee, around 7,500 have settled, the largest group of foreign nationals in the capital. A further circa 11,000 live in the Ile-de-France region.

The graphic below shows the percentage number of second homes in each district owned by a foreign national, the overwhelming majority of which are located in the 4e (34%), 3e (32%), 6e (29%), 7e (29%), and 1er (28%).

In 2017 the city council in Paris voted to impose the maximum surtax of 60% on the taxe d'habitation of second homes to encourage onwers to sell their property or to rent it on an annual basis. Nevertheless, the basic level of the tax in Paris remains one of the lowest in the country, to some extent offsetting the higher rate of imposition.