Right now could be the best time to put your property on the market, if you are trying to sell your main or principal home - that is, not subject to capital gains tax, as in the case of a second or holiday home in France.
Last night, unveiling yet another plan to 'stimulate the property market', French president Franois Hollande announce that there will be a special reduction in the capital gains tax levied on sales of second homes, but only for the year 2014. Why wait, you may well ask, in addition to his proposed changes (this autumn?) on the length of time you have to own a second home before you can sell it without a CGT charge - recently increased to 30 years, formerly 15 and to be settled by Hollande at 22...later this year.
There is good news in all this for owners of principal homes (main residence in France) who are anxious to sell now, perhaps to down-size or even return to the UK. The Hollande announcement is bound to encourage second-home owners to withdraw their properties from the market, until 2014, in anticipation of a better CGT deal. While any gaps in the market can be filled by principal-home owners not subject to CGT on sale.
It is rare that one can truthlly assert that now is a good time to sell, but I think this may be the exception.
Last night, unveiling yet another plan to 'stimulate the property market', French president Franois Hollande announce that there will be a special reduction in the capital gains tax levied on sales of second homes, but only for the year 2014. Why wait, you may well ask, in addition to his proposed changes (this autumn?) on the length of time you have to own a second home before you can sell it without a CGT charge - recently increased to 30 years, formerly 15 and to be settled by Hollande at 22...later this year.
There is good news in all this for owners of principal homes (main residence in France) who are anxious to sell now, perhaps to down-size or even return to the UK. The Hollande announcement is bound to encourage second-home owners to withdraw their properties from the market, until 2014, in anticipation of a better CGT deal. While any gaps in the market can be filled by principal-home owners not subject to CGT on sale.
It is rare that one can truthlly assert that now is a good time to sell, but I think this may be the exception.