UPDATE FROM PARIS: November 2007
JUST Released 2006-2007 prices show Paris Real Estate Market remain strong

• The dramatic price increases seen in 2006 have leveled off, but remain in the 8% range. Some realtors who predicted that prices would fall in 2007 have discarded their pessimism and now anticipate a steady, if more temperate, increase in sale prices across all parts of the city.
• Demand for better apartments in the 1st arrondissement has shot up. One prominent realtor is calling the quartier between Concorde and Palais Royal "the new golden triangle." The old triangle? Still in the 8th arr., bounded roughly by avenue des Champs-Elysées, avenue Georges V and avenue Montaigne.
• The Marais (4th and 3rd arrs., near Place des Vosges) continues to be highly attractive to buyers, especially French people in the 35-45 age bracket.


• The newly wealthy and newly prominent - politicians, artists, dot.com success stories - are investing especially heavily in the quartier (3rd and 11th arrs.) bounded by Bastille on the east and rue du Temple on the west. Better apartments can fetch 10,000 € and more a m2.
• The ever-romantic Ile St.-Louis continues to break all records, with apartments along the quais going for 17,000 € and more a m2, and those on interior streets 10,000 € .
• The mad dash for apartments (especially among foreign buyers) in the 5th and 6th arrs. continues unabated, with each area registering an increase of about 10%. Interestingly, prices in the 7th arr., always popular among foreign buyers, has leveled off somewhat, although the always sought-after St.-Germain quartier east of Invalides still fetched prices in the 9,000-12,000 € per m2 range.

1. While the market for quality Paris markets is not overheated, it remains strong and prices will continue to rise, with a return on investment greater than many other opportunities offering equal security.

2. Paris remains a strong investment in a world where the euro continues to gain value while the US dollar diminishes.

3. While some quartiers clearly outperform others in terms of soaring value, no arrondissement is being left behind in the general trend toward higher prices.

The color-coded maps below divide Paris into five geographical sections incorporating three or more arrondissements.

The price (Prix) charts show the range of selling prices per m2 (for apartments more than five yeas old) within different quartiers of each section.

Foreign buyers are major players in the Paris market

Quai de Grenelle, 15th arr.

Americans and British continue to be major players in the ongoing stampede to buy an apartment in Paris, according to figures from the Paris notaires association as reported in the October 3, 2006 Le Journal de Paris. More than 8% of properties sold in Paris in the 20 arrondissements were purchased by foreigners during the period the 12-month period ending July 2006. Italians led the way among foreigners lining up to buy an apartment in Paris, comprising 18.4% of all non-French buyers. Americans were in second place at 11.5% among foreigners investing in Paris real estate, and UK purchasers came in at 10.3%.

When examined by quartier, the numbers are even more revealing - although not surprising. In 2006, almost 26% of sales in the 4th (Marais and Ile St.-Louis) were to foreign buyers. The percentage of foreigners investing in apartments on just Ile St.-Louis itself was even stronger - 34.4%. On the Left Bank the popular 6th (St.-Germain-des-Prés) and 7th arrondissements (Invalides, Champs de Mars, etc.) logged 14.2% and 14.7%, respectively among foreign buyers. By contrast, the 12th arrondissement (Bastille, Bercy, Nation) failed to get much attention from foreigners searching to buy an apartment in Paris, registering a meager 4.4% of their acquisitions in Paris. Other areas favored by non-French buyers were the 8th arrondissement near étoile, parts of the 14th nearest boulevard du Montparnasse, and the Montmarte quartier in the 18th, which has been making a comeback in recent years.

While the continuing popularity of certain neighborhoods among foreign buyers is hardly news - they accurately reflect the inclinations of JFS clients who are seeking to buy an apartment in Paris - other interesting trends emerge from the figures. One is that foreign purchasers of Paris real estate - and our experience confirms this - are increasingly interested in refinished apartments ready for turnkey occupancy. These are exceptional properties that, with their strong visual appeal, immediately delight and charm as soon as the visitor walks in the door. They convey by their perfection that the apartment is ready to occupy with no or very little additional work to do. These properties - a coup de coeur that a prospective buyer falls in love with at first sight - are more likely to be snapped up quickly rather than one whose main selling points are a lot of living space or an attractive price. Despite their premium prices, they are usually good investments that will sell rapidly when they go back on the market.

Avenue de Friedland

Another trend, most noticeable among Americans and Irish, is that after buying an apartment in Paris, foreign buyers are increasingly content to spend only a few weeks in their newly acquired property, making it available for rental for the rest of the year. Paris is still the world's leading tourist destination. The strong and rapidly growing trend among tourists to rent an apartment rather than stay in a hotel is confirmed by our friends at the rental company Just France (www.justrance.com) . By renting, buyers are often able to defray all or most of their mortgage costs with revenue from short-term rentals to upscale clients. Strong rental potential is among the many factors that generally makes Paris real estate a good investment.