During the quarterly press briefing, Frédéric Pelou, president of FNAIM Côte Azur, confirmed the healthy state of the sector’s activity. Good news indeed, especially given his tendency to see the glass as half empty.
“The economic context encourages moderate optimism: interest rates remain very low (less than 2%), household morale is improving, and a decrease in unemployment seems to be on the horizon. Forecasters are betting on a slight acceleration of growth. Certainly, the level of housing prices has recorded an increase, but it is far too modest to encourage households to change their expectations. Moreover, the meager yield on financial investments continues to enhance real estate’s appeal to potential investors,” are the key elements of his analysis.
As for the near future: “The year 2017 looks promising, at least for the first half. The latter part is more uncertain due to the presidential election, which could lead to some caution while awaiting the decisions of the new government, particularly regarding fiscal matters,” he stated.
NICE:
1st quarter 2017 4th quarter 2016 1st quarter 2016
Average price/square meter of resold apartments
€4,084 €4,313 €4,212
Negotiation margin
3.82% 3.28% 4.21%
Time on market
124 days 139 days 131 days
Rolling average over 1 year
€4,247 €4,159 2.12%
