Foreign buyers flock to france

- France back into top 3 destinations

- Enquiries for Thai property double

- Interest in Greek and Cypriot property rising steadily

Loire, France Photo: Erminig Gwenn

International buyers flocked back to France's property market in September 2015, according to new research from TheMoveChannel.com. The portal's Top of the Props report shows that demand for the country rebounded in September 2015. France fell out of favour earlier this year, as concerns surrounding the Greek economy spread through the eurozone. The country dropped out of the Top of the Props Top 10 for the second time ever in June 2015 - only the fourth time that France has been outside of the Top 5 in the past two and half years.

Now, though, foreign interest has returned, with France rising eight places in the Top of the Props rankings to burst back into the top three. French property accounted for approximately 1 in 20 (4.11 per cent) enquiries on the site during last month, behind only established heavyweights Spain and the USA.

Spain held onto its top spot for the fourth month in a row, accounting for around 1 in 10 of all enquiries on the site (9.33 per cent). The USA was close behind, with 8.02 per cent of all enquires. Brazil also held on to fourth place, its share of activity increasing from 3.41 per cent in August to 3.9 per cent in September. Canada completed the Top 5, rising from seventh place in August 2015 to account for 3.31 per cent of activity.

France's return to form pushed Portugal out of the Top 5, reversing the country's 40 per cent surge in enquiries during August 2015. Similar surges in popularity were enjoyed by Switzerland, which rose 12 places in the Top of the Props charts to seize 12th, and Barbados, which climbed 12 places from 27th into 15th - just below Cape Verde. Australia and South Africa completed the Top 15, as buyers become increasingly interested in emerging and less established markets.

Thailand burst back into the Top 10 for the first time in three months. In real terms, enquiries for Thai property increased 87 per cent in real terms month-on-month. France, meanwhile, saw its enquiries more than double over the same period.

TheMoveChannel.com Director Dan Johnson comments: "Portugal and Spain have enjoyed huge interest from international buyers this year, but their success has overshadowed another firm European favourite: France has been more impacted by uncertainty surrounding the eurozone economy, but it has seen strong interest from investors too, not only because of the strong pound and weak euro but also the country's record low mortgage rates, which have made property even more affordable for British bargain hunters.

"France's return to favour, following a brief hiatus, comes as sentiment improves for the continent overall. Buyers are returning to countries previously badly hit by the financial crisis, such as Greece and Cyprus. Greece fell further down the charts into 17th place in August 2015, but in real terms, enquiries for Greek property in the third quarter of 2015 rose 16 per cent compared to Q2 2015 and enquiries for Cypriot property climbed 17 per cent. With France enjoying a 20 per cent quarterly increase too, though, it is clear that buyers' love affair with the country is still going strong."

Notes to Editors

About Lead Galaxy and TheMoveChannel.com

Founded in 1999, www.TheMoveChannel.com is the leading independent website for international property, with more than 800,000 listings in over 100 countries around the world, marketed on behalf of agents, developers and private owners.

TheMoveChannel.com is one of more than a dozen international property sites operated under the Lead Galaxy brand. Lead Galaxy provides online marketing solutions to thousands of property companies worldwide, focusing on portal listings, email marketing, qualified leads, paid search and social media advertising.

The business is headquartered at 24 Jack’s Place, Corbet Place, Shoreditch, London, E1 6NN.
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Please contact Ivan Radford on ivan.radford@themovechannel.com or +44 (0)207 952 7221
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