Buyers hunt for older, unique property in France

Published 13th Apr 2011

Whilst the boom and bust of the European property market has been significantly contained in France, there's no doubt that the aftermath of the credit crunch has seen holiday home buyers on the market become significantly more discerning with their requirements for a property. With an increasing number of seemingly identical new builds popping up in prominent tourist areas such as Charente-Maritime and Provence, those searching for a second home are being increasingly drawn towards older, more traditional French homes, which represent a unique selling point among the scores of holiday lettings on the market in the summer season.

According to an investigation by the Guardian, agents are reporting an increase in searches for older farmhouses and cottages, as opposed to purpose-built complexes of holiday apartments, or gites. "In the area around Cognac I've seen a move away from the seemingly obligatory gite complex", Graham Downie of the locally-based Cognac Property told the newspaper. "Most of my searches are now either for family homes in good condition, with views over the vineyards, priced between €250,000 and €400,000, or for townhouses with a small garden or courtyard between €200,000 and €300,000."

There are bargains to be had with these old-style chateaus too, particularly at the high end of the market, where many investors who overextended themselves during the boom have relinquished their properties to the banks, who are now looking to sell at a price that will simply cover the debt owed. "Lots of people have inherited a substantial amount of debt and banks have divisions dedicated to getting that off their books", Jez Moore of Cote d'Azur property firm the Azure Collection told the Telegraph. "They are not interested in attempting to make money. They just want to cover any outstanding debt, cross it off their list and move on to the next."

Moore told the newspaper he had several villas currently on his books that fit this criteria, including one that, despite being listed at a value of £7 million, he said would go for £4.2 million. "That's the debt and all the bank is interested in fulfilling", he said.

Source: ' TMC '

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