Sales of property during 2016 - excluding new-builds - rose by a healthy 5% in Pyrénées-Orientales over previous years - and surpassing the levels of the boom years 2000-2007following the switch to the euro and the price inflation that followed; together with a slowdown in sales - including by British and other non-French purchasers during the years prior to 2000 when prices were ridiculously low compared with Britain - a two room apartment on the beach for less than the equivalent of £20 000 was not uncommon.
The region is a now recognised first-choice for retirees from the post-war boom generation who benefited from full employment and increases in living standards during the 'thirty glorious' years up to 1980 and the shock of the first oil price rises. The typical French buyer from that period owns a house in or near Paris which can be sold for a high price that offers a comfortable budget with which to buy an apartment or house in the rural or coastal south, an area where the average price per square metre can be as low 1200 euros.......
An article in the current Logic-immo journal speaks of the attraction of the numerous small villages surrounding Perpignan, within easy reach of the Mediterranean coast (where prices are higher - for example around 4000 per square metre in Argelès-sur-mer) and the mountains inland, together with the proximity of the Spanish border for low-cost shopping; and Barcelona reached by car in two hours or fast TGV rail services (under 1 hour from Perpignan).
Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr
The region is a now recognised first-choice for retirees from the post-war boom generation who benefited from full employment and increases in living standards during the 'thirty glorious' years up to 1980 and the shock of the first oil price rises. The typical French buyer from that period owns a house in or near Paris which can be sold for a high price that offers a comfortable budget with which to buy an apartment or house in the rural or coastal south, an area where the average price per square metre can be as low 1200 euros.......
An article in the current Logic-immo journal speaks of the attraction of the numerous small villages surrounding Perpignan, within easy reach of the Mediterranean coast (where prices are higher - for example around 4000 per square metre in Argelès-sur-mer) and the mountains inland, together with the proximity of the Spanish border for low-cost shopping; and Barcelona reached by car in two hours or fast TGV rail services (under 1 hour from Perpignan).
Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr