CountrylassAnne

In the French forum which I've been reading (it has over 500 members from all over France), the majority of people are in agreement that prices have reached a peak and they can only descend from now onwards, in fact that is what they're hoping for. This link to a report published by the Banque Populaire bears out their sentiment: http://www.banquepopulaire.fr/actualite/marches/mar050329.htm They are obviously concerned that wages haven't risen anywhere near as much as property prices. The bank is also concerned that the situation now is very, very similar to just before the last 'crash' in the early 1990's, only worse! TU - it states in this report that some French who are heavily in-debt are having to sell-up in order to repay their dues. I've met at least 2 English families who've recently bought houses in France, and the owners were moving in with relatives and feeling very wealthy! Oh well, we'll just have to keep our French house a little longer.......now where was that phone number for Chris Tarrant.....................................!

I'm very interested in what is happening to property prices in France, it seems to be becoming general knowledge that it's getting more difficult to sell property. Not wishing to be left in the dark, I've been reading a French forum and have been very enlightened. It seems that more and more French can no longer afford the prices and some are selling up in order to repay debts, and moving in with other family members. I came across this graph: http://orgues.club.fr/PrixImmobilier.pdf What does anybody think happens next!!??    

We've just booked 2 weeks P&O Portsmouth to Le Havre in July for £150 return - they told us that there are only a certain number of tickets available at this price on each crossing, after which the price will slowly increase - same as on the 'no frills' airlines. They also assured us that the last crossing to Le havre will be at the end of September.

Jsey, I posted a similar reply to yours on another thread several weeks ago, and was almost shot down in flames! I will be very interested to see the response that you evoke. I've been reading a lot about property prices worldwide just recently. Here in the UK gravity seems to be taking hold and everything that went up, now seems set to come down. Lots of...... (OK I won't tar them all with the same brush) Estate Agents seem incapable of accepting the truth and still attempt to push up prices. I believe that we are on the verge of lots of changes. I've also been reading a French forum and they also are concerned about which way the prices are going over the coming years - I've found a wonderful French website written by a very, very realistic Frenchman who sees things in a unique way, to which I can relate. If anyone would like the website address please pm me and I will pass it on to you. I know that this post looks to be off the original thread but I personally feel that in the future us Brits won't have the same capacity to buy abroad as we've been able to do over the past 5 - 10 years - we've all been 'equity rich' but I don't believe it is sustainable, I think the 'party is almost over!!' PS  I don't mean to be miserable but I'm just a down-to-earth country girl!     2 Y's U R,    2 Y's U B,    I C U R,    2 Y's 4 Me.

http://pages.britishlibrary.net/patgardiner/secondwave.htm

I came across this website by chance, which gives frightening details: www.creditaction.org.uk/debtstats.htm I know for sure that this situation wouldn't be allowed to happen in France.

[quote]Hi everyone I too was really concerned about the latest "troubles" - especially as we are looking to live near Guingamp eventually! However, this sort of behaviour is not, as others have already sai...[/quote] Sarnia, I'm with you every step of the way.

I would just like to add my final word on this topic, and that is to urge Brits (or any non-French) to be aware that it is a right to have a home in France (or any EU member country) but it's definitely a PRIVILEGE to own a 'maison secondaire'. Brits should acknowledge that just because they have the money (or access to a loan) it does not guarantee that you can buy any second property you fancy, as is mostly possible here in the UK. Example 1 Friends of ours who have lived in the Mayenne (53) for 7 years, told us last spring that the Maire of an area on the boundary of 53 and Orne (61) has put his foot down and now refuses to allow any foreign buyers to purchase more than one house in his area- the Maire has a lot of power in France!   Example 2 (A true account, told to me by the Agent himself) A British well-heeled prospective property owner, made an appointment to visit an Agence Immobilier in Basse Normandie to look thro' their books and view some houses. He viewed a handful and then went away and considered things overnight. The next day he returned to the Agence having made a decision  " I would like to buy this particular property that I saw yesterday" Agence Immobilier " I'm very sorry sir, but we have just sold that early this morning" Buyer "I don't care I want that one!" Agent "I repeat I'm very sorry it is sold" Buyer, reaching for his wallet " I don't care, how much will it cost me, I want that house!!" Agent " I am truly sorry sir, that's not the way things work here in France, the house is sold, I suggest you search elsewhere!!" Would this Brit be welcomed into the bosom of France with open-arms..................!!?  

Let's hope these reporters get things into perspective. Incidentally I would just like to clarify a statement I made on an earlier post, which is that yes it is our right to have 'A HOME' in France as members of the European Union, BUT it is still a privilege to own a SECOND HOME in France, Austria, Italy, or in any country in the world - which should not be taken for granted.  

Simple.........got a friend who's a doctor to pop me in a few hormones the night before(testosterone, you know the score - fantastic how medicine has come along!) - quick and painless. It was good to see how the 'other half ' live - luckily they only lasted for about 24 hours - pity the dog bit me during that time - might take a while to heal!! Please don't ask where the bite is!!

Yes I've been sussed, I was the one in the chicken suit........................thought I was setting a good EGGsample, while I HATCHed out my next move. It was not a POULTRY demonstration cos there's no smoke without fire.......................! To be serious, I have no problem whatsoever with anyone from any country buying a 'place in France' so long as they: Don't pay over the odds for property - enjoy the spirit of haggling, the French do, (I strongly disagree with the advise frequently given - offer the asking price and it's yours!) Can afford to buy - ie are not completely tied up with loans. Learn the language, make friends with their neighbours and local folk, Join in with community activities and integrate as much as possible, Learn, understand and respect the local customs and traditions. In my experience in France over 22 years we have made many genuine French friends and I am only voicing many of their opinions and concerns! Owning a French property is surely a privilege and not a right!    

Illustrating 2 sides of a situation you say........hmmmm! My relatives in Lincolnshire were hoping to buy a 'home' which was actually bought by a family from somewhere in the south of England for £400.000 as a 'WEEKEND RETREAT'!! Nice for some! You mentioned people from the Midlands relocating to the south of UK (for work purposes?), presumably being told that if they refused they may not have a job.............direct comparison, similar situations.......I think not!! How many people do you know that have been told they must relocate to France in order to keep their job with an existing company? Whereas how many people do you know that have bought a little place in France as a holiday home because they could? Would I sell my house for less than the market value? It all depends. We bought our home here as a wreck 26 years ago and have done loads to improve it. Apparently it's now worth 10 times more than we bought it for. Whatever we sell for, it will be a huge profit and exact market value or not we will still win. As regards buying a house in France - we would like to own one for the next 20-25 years, so once again the same answer will apply. As you will realise I am very 'passionate'!!?? (maybe the wrong word) about this subject and worry that collectively foreign buyers in France are in danger of destroying the very reason why we wanted to live/be in France in the first instance.  

In that case Russethouse, do I take it that you would be in favour of the French Government stepping in and giving local people preferential treatment when a house comes up for sale? It wouldn't bother me if that happened because after all France does belong to the French!

Over the last couple of years 3 members of my family have tried to move house within their own county here in the UK - Lincolnshire and Derbyshire. Unfortunately none of them were able to buy a different house because they were guzzumped at the eleventh hour, by buyers from the south of England!! My relations felt resentment towards a group of people whose ability to pay was much greater than their own!! So yes I can empathise with the indiginous French population.

I've just been reading the article in today's Mail On Sunday called - 'French village marches on its British Invaders'. It says that yesterday more than 100 demonstrators gathered in the square at Bourbriac in Brittany to revolt against the tide of expats that has sent property prices soaring. More than 300,000 Brits now live in the region with 10,000 new British arrivals each year. Apparently they were waving banners, giving speeches and burning brochures from estate agents specialising in selling homes to the British. The protest was organised by A-Stroll meaning 'together' in Breton language, and is dedicated to ending foreign and especially British property speculation in the area. They are complaining about British having their own clubs and are not integrating etc......! It makes very unhappy reading, and the article is obviously all fact and not fiction. Isn't it highly likely that this bad feeling towards Brits could spread to other areas in France, given the number of Brits purchasing? It worries us a lot and to be honest makes us have second thoughts about getting our own holiday home in Normandie - I know prices there have almost doubled in the last 3 years. One reason we actually love France is because the French (certainly in rural Normandie) seem to be very unmaterialistic, and live in an old-fashioned way which we find very charming - I would hate that to all change, to me it is the very essence of France!  My son is studying Geography A-level and has been told that France has more tourists per year than any other country in the world. I wonder why............!?  (USA comes 2nd but has only half as many tourists pa) 

There seem to be far more houses for sale at the moment, than there were earlier this year.  If this trend continues surely the supply and demand phenomenon will come into play and drive down the house prices. We've seen this already on one estate agents website who says " Go on be brave, make a silly offer after all some people are asking a silly price!" I would say offer 20% less than asking price and take it from there. Bon Chance!!

I've just been on the bmibaby website again and noticed I made an error above; Birmingham have flights to both Nice AND Bordeaux next summer -sorry B'gham! Also just to clarify I've only been referring to bmibaby flights to France, just in case anyone wanted to go to Prague, Malaga, Geneva etc................................!!??

We had an email from bmibaby last week to say that all Summer 2005 flights from East Midlands were to be announced on 30 November (and from their other airports between December 1 - 3). I looked at the EMA timetable online on that date and saw that although they have flights to Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nice and Paris from now until March 2005, after that date until the end of October 2005, they are ONLY FLYING TO PARIS from EMA!!! Bang goes my week in Nice at Easter!!!! It also looks as if they've dropped all flights to Toulouse next summer from all airports, but are continuing next summer with ; Birmingham to Nice only, and Manchester to Bordeaux only. I always thought these 'no-frills' airlines were a bit fickle and ought not to be relied on.

We also had a 'Continental market' in Derby two weeks ago, which lasted for three days. Unfortunately the weather was very unkind so by the time the third day arrived, lots of stallholders had had enough of the driving rain and chilly winds so had packed up early - can't say I blame them! The stallholders were mainly French and had a lovely selection of goodies - I bought wine, olives, biscuits and cheese. Two of the cheeses were great but one camembert was obviously very, very ripe - we had to stand it in a corner and apologise to guests for the honk!!!!!! The poor old innocent cat was blamed for 'missing' his litter tray..................! Prices were high BUT they obviously have to make their trip worthwhile, and if it's not possible for Mohammed to go to the mountain, the mountain must.........etc. I really enjoyed it all, they have a great atmosphere and it's nice to be able to practice my French.    

Weedon I quite agree - we also must be very boring.....yawn, yawn!!!! We have an aversion to loans - call us old-fashioned and dull if you like, but I've seen lots of friends suffer with money problems and it's something I want to avoid. I was brought up not to 'live beyond my means', and am encouraging my teenagers to do the same. No, I am not the vicar's wife, just a country girl!!    

We went to Corsica in May 1998 and had a wonderful week, the scenery is fantastic. We stayed in the North in the mountain village of Lama and were made very welcome by the locals. The beaches were excellent but as other posts have said the mountain roads are very hairy - no barriers and shear drops (we saw quite a few cars who'd not completed their journey!!!???). I can't comment on the race mentioned, but my knowledgable husband informs me that Corsica currently annually hosts a round of the World Rally Championship - goodness knows how they manage to do it they must have nerves of steel - rather them than me!!! While we were there we also noticed the 'bullet holes' in many of the roadsigns!!! we couldn't decide if they were originals or just added for tourist effect as a reminder of their bandit ancestry !! We would definitely like to return one day, so better start saving up cos it ain't cheap!   Anne  

It's me again Sorry I should have added in reply to the original post regarding flights to Bordeaux direct from Manchester - bmibaby are continuing 2/3 flights out to Bordeaux from Nottingham East Midlands over the winter months - until end..ish of March.

Hi everyone I've been quietly reading this forum for some months, and thought it was about time I joined in. Please be gentle with me and apologies in advance for any naive questions that I come up with. We live about 5 miles from Nottingham East Midlands airport and have flown a lot with bmibaby - we have just booked to fly to Toulouse in January, so was surprised to read Llatony's post stating that they are not flying there this winter......cos they are!!  If you look on their website they're flying out twice a week on Wednesdays + Saturdays until the 20 something of March. The flights  over the Christmas and New Year must already be fully booked.