
Keeping a eye on the market
Sellers are sticking to their high expectations in matters of price whilst buyers are waiting, hoping for the prices to drop… as a result of this, during the third trimester of 2012, the real estate market of Paris and the greater Paris region remains rather stuck, the Paris Notaries´ Chamber has pointed out. The sales dynamic has clearly stalled: a mere 37 000 new and old lots were sold in the entire Ile-de-France region, 21% less than in the third trimester of 2011.
Within the city of Paris, the market split in two: ten arrondissements (3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 19th) have still seen a rise in sales price. The highest increase (+4.9%) taking place in the 3rd district, were prices have hit 10 660€/m². Ten arrondissements have experienced a slight decline in prices (1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 12th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 20th). The sharpest drop (-4.1%) occurring in the 5th, where prices however still stand at an average of 10 640€/m². Saint-Germain-des-Prés remains the priciest neighbourhood of the city, with an average price per square metre of 16 220€, almost three times that of the least expensive area, La Goutte d´Or, where the average square metre goes away for 5 880€.
The economic and social climate is unlikely to bring a new dynamic to the real estate market in the upcoming months.
New fiscal dispositions are in the works, but it is not likely that these will be able to generate a situation as favourable to house selling as was the case in 2010-2011, when a new set of fiscal and financial mechanisms had been a determining support for real estate activity.
Housing still remains a safe investment. The current lack of convincing alternative placements and the increase of the tax burden have so far kept potential sellers from ceding their property and from accepting to sell for tamer prices.
In the upcoming months, the market should thus be a selective one, still marked by wait-and-see. The volume of sales should also remain well below that of the two previous years.



















