French News Archive

Property Market

Rural House Prices in France 2017

Friday 06 July 2018

The French rural land agency SAFER have recently published their review of the housing market for countryside properties in 2017.

The annual assessment of the property market in the French countryside by SAFER (Société d'Aménagement Foncier et d'Etablissement Rural) provides an opportunity each year to periscope this market.

The study is unique, for other reports from the notaires and estate agents are based primarily on transactions that take place within urban areas, a rather different market.

Their data is obtained from the notaires, who are legally obliged to notify them of prospective rural land and property sales, on which they then have a right of pre-emption.

However, although a useful snapshot, caution is needed in the interpretation of the figures due to the low number of transactions in most departments and the heterogeneous nature of the market. In some cases, the figures are based on no more than a few hundred transactions that have occurred.

On a national basis SAFER state that the average sale price of a 'maison de campagne' in 2017 was €164,600, up from €160,400 in 2016.

The average amount of land in each sale was 5,600m2, but there are no figures on the habitable surface area of the properties sold.

The definition of a 'maison de campagne' used in the study is 'une partie ou l’ensemble d’un ancien corps de ferme ou un bâtiment vendu avec un terrain agricole de moins de 5 ha.'

As can be seen from the graphic below, prices varies substantially between the regions; the least expensive areas, with average prices around €100K, are Central and North East France, the Pyrenees and Brittany, as well as parts of some other regions.

Highest average prices greater than €215K are around the Parisian Basin, Alsace, Haute-Savoie, the Mediterranean coast, the Atlantic coast, and around the cities of Lyon, Toulouse and Bordeaux.

The table below provides the actual figures for each department, showing the average sales prices for 2017 compared to 2016, and the minimum and maximum sales prices. The analysis excludes the lowest priced 10% and highest priced 10% of sales.

Due to the low number of transactions it would be imprudent to regard the movement in average prices between 2016 and 2017 as being particularly significant; it is as likely to be a change in the structure of sales as a price change.

Nevertheless, of the 91 departments for which figures are provided, prices have increased in 63 of them, reflecting the general national increase that has occurred. The ups and downs of the market are spread right across the country, with the exception of Brittany, the only region where prices rose in all departments.

Rural House Prices 2017
Region/Dept
Average Price
2016
Average Price
2017
Minimum Price
Maximum Price
AUVERGNE-RHONE-ALPES
Ain €171,500 €179,800€63,000
€370,000
Allier €87,200
€88,400€28,000
€180,700
Ardèche €154,200
€162,600
€51,800
€308,800
Cantal €92,600
€87,400€26,000
€188,000
Drôme €226,000
€232,000€85,000
€444,000
Isère €205,800
€217,600€98,000
€390,000
Haute-Loire €112,200
€104,000€30,000
€215,000
Loire €144,700
€142,400€45,000
€270,000
Puy-de-Dôme€98,000
€95,000€23,000
€215,000
Rhône €246,500
€250,400€80,000
€570,000
Haute-Savoie €299,500
€313,700€80,000
€705,000
Savoie€184,200€196,300€45,000
€430,000
BRITTANY
Côte d'Amour€109,300
€112,900€35,000
€238,000
Finistère€125,500
€137,100
€43,000
€280,000
IIe-et-Vilaine €136,000
€141,500
€43,000
€278,900
Morbihan
€131,800
€139,900€36,500
€320,000
BOURGOGNE FRANCHE-COMTE
Belfort
€149,200
€142,800€33,000
€287,000
Côte-d'Or€127,700
€142,700€25,000
€310,000
Doubs
€148,000
€149,100€29,500
€340,000
Haute-Saône€107,500
€112,600€34,000
€239,000
Jura
€125,900
€121,900€40,000
€240,000
Nièvre€80,500
€78,300€25,000
€164,500
Saône-et-Loire€110,500
€116,800€40,000
€237,300
Yonne
€121,000
€125,000
€40,600
€248,000
CENTRE-VAL DE LOIRE
Cher
€86,000
€86,200€24,000
€177,000
Eure-et-Loir
€152,200
€151,200€54,000
€285,000
Indre
€69,100
€68,300€16,000
€153,000
Indre-et-Loire
€137,100
€144,200€35,000
€290,000
Loir-et-Cher
€118,700
€119,300€35,000
€243,000
Loiret
€142,400
€149,700€50,000
€297,900
GRAND EST
Ardennes
€99,100
€109,900€35,000
€245,000
Aube
€124,300
€120,400
€21,000
€250,000
Haute-Marne
€78,900
€74,600€15,000
€160,000
Marne
€150,200
€143,300€27,800
€295,000
Meurthe-et-Moselle
€120,100
€128,200€35,000
€239,000
Meuse
€102,200
€99,500€23,100
€183,800
Moselle
€136,400
€138,300€35,000
€269,000
Bas-Rhin
€190,700
€193,300€72,500
€390,000
Haut-Rhin
€178,500
€175,500€60,000
€340,000
Vosges
€110,100
€116,200€37,000
€219,600
HAUTS DE FRANCE
Aisne €116,200
€114,200€39,900
€220,000
Nord €185,100
€189,200€65,000
€390,000
Oise €205,500
€201,700€87,000
€355,000
Pas-de-Calais€153,400
€168,300€70,000
€313,500
Somme €142,700
€136,300€48,000
€276,000
ILE-DE-FRANCE
Paris-
--
-
Seine-Saint-Denis-
--
-
Haute-de-Seine-
--
-
Val-et-Marne €263,600
€283,300€153,500
€800,000
Val d'Oise €280,600
€294,300€138,000
€500,000
Yvelines€365,000
€333,200€128,400
€700,000
Essonne €254,800
€260,100€108,000
€480,000
Seine-et-Marne€212,700
€204,000€80,000
€385,000
NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE
Charente €104,500
€109,600€30,000
€227,000
Charente-Maritime €136,200
€145,700€47,000
€300,000
Corrèze €93,300
€102,200€30,000
€204,000
Creuse €63,200
€63,600€16,000
€140,000
Deux-Sèvres €103,700
€106,400€32,000
€200,400
Dordogne €143,300
€146,500€54,000
€305,000
Gironde €176,800
€182,100€73,000
€367,000
Landes €165,800
€187,700€77,000
€355,000
Lot-et-Garonne €151,100
€153,300
€60,000
€292,000
Pyrénées-Atlantiques€209,900
€221,800€74,000
€500,000
Haute-Vienne €91,300
€89,500
€23,000
€190,000
Vienne
€103,700
€104,800
€29,000
€210,000
OCCITANIE
Ariège €111,500
€105,000€39,000
€212,000
Aude €115,300
€134,700€27,000
€350,000
Aveyron €110,200
€110,600€26,000
€240,000
Gard €201,200
€223,300€70,000
€447,700
Gers €155,200
€159,100€60,000
€320,000
Haute-Garonne €198,000
€209,400€77,000
€405,000
Hautes-Pyrénées €128,600
€125,700€40,000
€235,000
Hérault €186,300
€222,800€62,000
€469,000
Lot€150,000
€145,700€41,000
€270,000
Lozère €119,300
€122,000€35,000
€267,800
Pyrénées-Orientales€186,800
€209,500€45,000
€463,000
Tarn €159,700
€158,200€47,000
€329,000
Tarn-et-Garonne €156,400
€161,200€68,000
€286,700
NORMANDY
Calvados
€159,800
€166,500€56,000
€360,000
Manche
€110,700
€113,500€34,000
€215,000
Orne
€110,600
€106,900€35,000
€205,000
Eure
€159,400
€159,100€70,000
€292,000
Seine-Maritime
€166,700
€175,900€77,500
€304,000
PAYS DE LA LOIRE
Loire-Atlantique
€159,500
€163,300€62,000
€300,000
Maine-et-Loire
€137,800
€143,000€50,000
€270,000
Mayenne
€104,700
€107,700€29,000
€205,000
Sarthe
€116,900
€117,300€34,000
€229,000
Vendée€124,100
€130,700€45,000
€240,000
PROVENCE-ALPES-COTE D'AZUR
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
€183,600
€185,700€40,000
€410,000
Alpes-Maritimes€320,800
€324,000€53,000
€820,000
Bouches-du-Rhône
€405,800
€425,500€144,000
€880,000
Hautes-Alpes
€167,200
€169,400€41,500
€350,000
Var€335,900
€323,300
€100,000
€670,000
Vaucluse
€319,500
€336,200€129,000
€765,000


International Buyers

According to SAFER, the percentage of non-resident international buyers in 2017 was 5.1% of total rural house sales, down from 5.3% in 2016.

Although British nationals remain by far the largest group of international buyers, sales to British buyers fell to 41% (47% in 2016) of all international property sales, the result of Brexit and the fall in the Sterling rate. There are early indications that in 2018 there may well have been a reversal of that trend.

The graphic below shows the percentage of rural house sales to international buyers in 2017 by department, from which it can be seen that in some areas of France the proportion of international buyers of rural property was in excess of 15%.

The favourite areas remain the Central West of the country and also parts of Midi-Pyrénées, Burgundy and Languedoc-Roussillon.

The table and images courtesy of Terres d’Europe-Scafr d’après Safer.

View a selection of rural properties for sale in France

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