French Buyers Convinced of Post-Covid Property Price Drop

French people are confident not only that they will soon complete their current property buying or selling project, but that house prices in France will drop once lockdown ends.

Consortium Immobilier conducted a survey on a panel of 1,219 people between April 16 and 20, 2020, asking them what impact the containment related to Covid-19 has on their existing or future property project.

The first piece of good news is the willingness of the French to complete their property transaction at the end of the containment. While nearly 43% of those quizzed admitted that containment had slowed down their project, and 45% said it had stopped their plans altogether, only 13% of those surveyed think that their deal will not be finalised fairly soon after containment ends – nearly 40% of them estimate that they will be able to complete (purchase, sale, rental investment) within a period of three to six months.

60% of those surveyed continue to consult property advertisements

The survey also revealed more than 60% of respondents continue to consult property adverts online, with 50% of them looking to buy: “In the current context, 50% of respondents who say they are ready to buy a home is surprising,” said Mickaël Carton, head of Consortium Immobilier.

Even if confinement has halted physical visits, the fact remains that the respondents continue to make progress in their property search using web portals, with regular consultation of online ads and databases.

43% of those surveyed believe that property prices will fall after the pandemic

While representatives of major property groups and federations in France cannot currently predict the evolution of property prices, many of the potential buyers questioned believe that prices will drop.

43% of those surveyed by Consortium Immobilier believe that prices will go down, compared to 14% who think they will go up and 17% who think that there will be no impact on prices (and 25% who don’t know).

So now is the time to ramp up your property search, such as on the FrenchEntrée database, and be ready to plan your immobilier appointments, viewings and offers once travel restrictions and social distancing measure are lifted.