Large family apartments in Paris attract buyers once again

The slump suffered by larger apartments in Paris finally lifted last year, mainly due to a 15% fall in prices over the past few years. Luxury real estate agency Daniel Féau hail 2015 as a “record” year for larger properties in the capital.

Remaining unsold for several months or even several years, large properties in the heart of Paris and in nearby Neuilly-sur-Seine had difficulty finding takers of late. That is, until last year where buyers returned en masse to peruse the city’s more luxurious real estate offerings.

According to real estate network Daniel Féau, which specializes in luxury property, 2015 was a “record” year for this segment of the market. The network recorded increases in sales volumes reaching 36% in the capital and an impressive 70% in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a chic neighborhood located near the La Défense business district in the northwest of Paris.

The sharp fall in prices has a lot to do with renewed interest in large luxurious family apartments. Prices have dropped by 15% since 2012 for property worth over one million euros, and even more substantially for some very large apartments. However, according to the Nouvel Obs, this price decline is now over.

While French customers have been able to take advantage of historically low interest rates on loans, foreign buyers have benefitted on their part from the decline of the euro. As a result, the stock of property for sale fell sharply in 2015, by 33%.

The fall of the euro primarily benefits American buyers and Middle-easterners. Indeed, Daniel Féau, head of the titular agency, notes that “the Middle East is by far the first area of origin of foreign buyers buying goods costing over five million euros.”

Photo credit: Wikimedia / Fanny Schertzer