Many of us may wish to sell.
Others thinking about it.
What is the property market looking like now?
In France?
Back in Uk ?Who is buying....the Germans?
How can we reach purchasers outside europe?
Me, not selling just now...
as you know we have been trying to sell in the Dordogne for 11 months now....we will make no money on the house...we bought it and spent 50k on it...we are now at the price that will cover our purchase and the work...we just received an offer from a couple from Paris...for 75k under asking price! and no...we are not accepting, we are not that desperate. In Newbury, where we live (have a flat in Newbury and lived here for 30 years plus) property is flying off the shelves. We watch the property market and at least a dozen houses we liked..have sold within a fortnight of going on the market. We have looked at possibly property swapping...still lots of Brits on Leggetts website want to buy in France or swap their properties...have looked at that...but mainly the properties in the North of the UK and people looking to downsize to smaller properties...so that doesnt work for our huge 5 bed barn! guess its a waiting game......as to who is buying in the UK..and the south of France...def. Russians...certainly in London and Nice thats the case...
Friends in France eventually dropped the price of their very nicely finished house by over 16% after the property was on the market for 6 months. They had very few viewings but hav now sold.
slightly out of date now but I put my house on the market in the UK March last year and sold it within 8 weeks, (Hampton, SW Greater London) having had about 30 viewings. I was told by all estate agents before I went on the market that the viewing/puchase ratio had changed considrably but that houses were moving if marketed aggresively. The asking price was 15% lower than it had been valued at 2 years earlier and I accepted a further small reduction. However I was happy with this as I know of others who have refused to budge on price that have been on the market for many months without success. I was also told that smaller family acccomodation was selling well while the extreme ends (high value and first time buyer properties) were both pretty slow.
No idea what it's like outside France but it's pretty dead here. Having said that I managed to sell a small place near Pézenas within a month but I was lucky to find just the right person and as long as he gets his mortgage, it's a done deal now (and he should as he's got a deposit and a CDI) But it's a completely different case for our main house - OH's school will almost certainly close at the end of this school year so we're trying to get ahead of the game ready to take whatever she's offered elsewhere or if there's nothing on offer, which could well be the case, buy a commerce/small shop (we've already got a couple lined up!) but whatever happens we'll need to sell the house and not many people seem to be looking at the moment, well one visit in 2 months and a possible one next month if she turns up.
All contacts are French - have put the house on one of the main anglophone property sites, nice add, lots of photos but not a single enquiry :-(
Don't think things will pick up until after the presidential elections but at least that coincides with the better weather too !