Good news for vacationers seduced by their seaside resort or their mountain village and who want to acquire a second home, the market is currently with the advantage of buyers.
First reason: the latter are fewer and therefore have more choices. “We had 25 buyers per day in good years, if we receive 10 per day at the moment, we are happy”launches Marie-Céline Chavanne, head of Sotheby’s International Realty in Midi-Pyrénées. A drop in purchasing power, international tensions as well as a real estate market which has returned to a normal level after a few years of strong demand: everything contributes to the buyers not in number.
Another phenomenon pointed out by real estate professionals: the increasingly strict rules concerning tourist rentals. “Some customers, especially foreign, would like to buy, but they would like to be able to make their second home profitable by praising when they are absent and they retreat when they realize that it is prohibited”notes Philippe Thomine-Desmazures, director of the Basque Barnes Côte agency who works in particular on Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantique).
Prices that remain high
The big cities of the Basque coast, but also Bordeaux, Saint-Malo, as well as many agglomerations located on the Mediterranean coast, such as Marseille, Sète, Aix-en-Provence, Nice, strongly limit the possibility of renting its second home to tourists.
Only owners of principal residence can embark on the furnished tourism and only within the limit of 90 or 120 days per year. Same thing for Annecy or certain municipalities in the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc valley. Buyers can also be discouraged by prices that remain high in tourist areas. “In these sectors, buyers have financial means and this maintains prices at a high level”explains Loïc Cantin, president of the National Federation of Real Estate (FNAIM).
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