Overseas Property Owners Selling Up

French property prices have been following similar trends to British prices, which is to say that in recent years, they have tumbled.  The reasons for the sharp price decreases seen generally on the continent are more to do with a lack of foreign investment though than a lack of credit over the channel.  This is despite the fact that the majority of Britains purchasing french property do so without a mortgage.

This has meant that comparitively, there are some overseas property bargains to be picked up in France, Spain and other European countries.  Prices have fallen so much that even the hard slide of the pounds value against the dollar has not compensated for the falling property prices.

However, a large number of Britons living in France are looking to repatriate back to the UK because of a number of factors.  The cost of living has increased substantially in recent years particularly for the majority of British ex-pats who have their income in sterling.  Other British holiday home owners have become fed up themselves with the extreme number of UK home owners in some holiday home enclaves.

With cheap airline flights available to most of France though, bargain properties are still likely to be purchased and now is a cheaper time to buy than in recent years.  The market probably suits cash buyers as those looking to mortgage and let a property will find a difficuly holiday home rental market.