The current turmoil in the eurozone is likely to reduce the cost of buying property in France, says David Johnson of Halo Financial.

The extraordinary activity within the eurozone over the last year, and the increasing complexity of the funding arrangements between eurozone nations, is causing enormous concern in political and financial circles.

Greece is in dire financial straits, as are Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy and other eurozone members.

Those who are less troubled are the French and Germans, as well as some of their near neighbours, Austria and the Netherlands, and perhaps Finland.

In order to keep the struggling eurozone countries from failing, and avert the obvious financial fallout that such a situation would cause, Germany and France are pouring ever larger sums of money into a rescue fund which these countries can draw upon to keep their economies ticking over.

But it may well be that German law prohibits such financial support, so the bailout fund may struggle. A decision of the German constitutional court is awaited.

And Finland has warned that if they don’t get sufficient collateral to support their contribution, they will opt out of the support fund.

It may also be that the extra funds being demanded from France and Germany are a straw ready to break the camel’s back.

So the debate is raging amongst German and French policy makers as to what to do next.

On the sidelines are the credit ratings agencies, who seem poised to downgrade German and French sovereign debt ratings.

They are joined by currency traders and speculators who see the euro as a potential ‘sell’ if things get any tougher.

As these two countries account for roughly half of the eurozone economy, a default or a credit rating downgrade would be taken very badly by the financial markets.

The cost of borrowing money would rise in Germany and France and the pressure would mount from within those countries to cut Greece and the other Mediterranean countries adrift.

The problem is that there are so many permutations of outcomes that the euro is very likely to weaken in the months ahead.

In essence, the problem that started with Ireland and spread through the southern eurozone nations could end up weakening the euro and making your property purchase more affordable.

Taking advantage of that silver lining is a matter of timing, experience and insight.

David Johnson is a Director of Halo Financial, a leading specialist foreign exchange broker, and sponsors of 'The French Village' at A Place in the Sun Live, Birmingham NEC 30th Sept-2nd Oct. Come along and ask him any questions you may have about currency exchange and how Halo Financial could potentially save you thousands of pounds on the purchase of your property in France. Free tickets to 'The French Village' are available here.