65,000 French properties
Foreign buyers purchased 65,000 real estate properties in 2018, which represented a +6% growth year on year (BNP Paribas International Buyers). Indeed in 2017, international home buyers had bought 61,000 flats and houses in France.
6,5% of home buyers in France
France is a real estate market where more than 1 million transactions happen each year. Therefore, foreigners represent 6.5% of the homebuyers.
18 billion euros in transactions
What’s interesting is that this market of foreign buyers in France is stable at 18 billion euros. Indeed, in 2017 this market was already worth 18 billion euros, with 61K transactions at 300K€. While in 2018 the market was slightly different (lower average transaction), it still hits the 18 billion euros mark.
Average transaction price: 288,000 euros
While the number of transactions grew by 6%, the average transaction price decreased by 5%, to 288,000 euros instead of 303,000 euros. However, this doesn’t mean that French property prices have decreased. Quite the opposite, as real estate prices in France had grown from 2017 to 2018 (see here for more details).
Yet what happened is that foreigners who purchased in Ile-de-France (Paris region) spent 533K€ instead of the 577K€ observed the year before (-7.8%).
Top 10 foreign buyers in France
The top 10 nationalities of foreign buyers in France are:
- United Kingdom
- Belgium
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Italy
- Netherlands
- United States
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
British buyers
While the British represent 27% of all foreign buyers in France, the Belgians are not far with 19%. Completing the top 5 we find the Germans, the Swiss and the Italians. British buyers have been the #3 foreign buyers in Provence Alpe Cote d’Azur, and notably the #3 in Paris, with a strong +77% growth compared to 2017. Therefore, UK buyers don’t get their leadership, their #1 position with these two regions, but with all other regions: Auvergne Rhone Alpes (#1 with 30%), Nouvelle-Aquitaine (#1 with 59%), Occitania (#1 with 28%). So we can see that British buyers are looking for French ski resorts (Haute-Savoie in Auvergne Rhone Alpes), Atlantic Ocean but also French countryside and golf courses (Aquitaine), and Mediterranean Coast (Occitania and Cote d’Azur).
Belgian buyers
Belgian buyers, who are the 2nd biggest foreign buyers in France, come #1 in Provence Alpe Cote d’Azur (17%), especially in Var and Vaucluse where their leadership is stronger. Also, Belgian buyers come #3 in Auvergne Rhone Alpes due to Ski resorts, and #2 in Nouvelle Aquitaine with 13%, showing an appetite for the Atlantic Ocean. Yet the Mediterranean Sea remains their #1 destination, as Belgians are very active in both Cote d’Azur (17%) and Occitania (26%), where foreign buyers’ activity is concentrated around the coast.
American buyers
Whereas American buyers are the #1 foreign buyers in Paris, they only come 7th in this national ranking. Indeed, Americans continue to invest in inner Paris (+16% compared to 2017) with an average budget of €802k. Other regions are not as popular with the citizens of the United States.
Italian buyers
Italian buyers are not only the #2 nationality of international home buyers in Paris, but also the #2 in Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur. Yet, they only come #5 nationally, because they’re not very active in other regions either. Therefore, Italians left the Top 3 since 2017, now occupied by the British, the Belgians and the Germans.
Top 10 nationalities – Ranking
Summing up the top 10 nationalities of foreign buyers in France, we get to 79,9%, showing that there is another 20% of foreign buyers who come from other countries. Notably, China is not part of this top 10, while they are now #5 in Paris. Indeed, this would tend to show that Chinese buyers are only starting to scratch the surface, before possibly investing in more French regions. Click here to see how to market properties to Chinese buyers.
Paris concentrates 30% of foreign buyers
The French capital concentrated 30% of real estate acquisitions by foreigners. However, when focusing on the non-resident exclusively, Paris region only captured 8.6% of them. Therefore, while many foreigners reside in Paris’ region, when it comes to acquisitions from non-resident buyers, the South of France capture a higher market share. Indeed, Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur, Occitanie, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and even Nouvelle-Aquitaine captured more than 14% each.
Non-resident VS resident
BNP Paribas tracks each year the proportion of non-resident VS resident buyers, and in 2018 the proportion of non-resident reached 27%. So we can conclude that non-resident foreign buyers is a market of 5 billion euros (27% of €17.7 billion).