South of France Property - A Seller's Market!
When buying a property, you will either be looking for property in a buyer’s market or seller’s market. What is a buyer’s market and what is a seller’s market? More importantly: is the current property market in the South of France a buyer’s or seller’s market?
In most cases, South of France real estate agents consider a typical market to be one in which villas and other investment property take an average of six months to sell. Local real estate agents keep track of this number by keeping up with the days the a lusted property for sale is on the market before it finally gets sold. In the current market, listed properties for sale in the South of France tend to be on the market for less then 6 months before these villas, second houses and other South of France real estate they get sold.
Therefore we can state that the worth of inventory (homes) on hand to sell is smaller then the number of buyers in the market. This is what we call a seller’s market. If the number of months before a property in Southern France is sold rises to more then 6 months, then the market is swinging into a buyers market. A buyer's market is one in which there are too many homes on the market for the number of buyers. Homes take longer to sell and prices fall.
Often property buyers and Provence real estate agents in South France, believe that winter time is a buyers' market. Although it is true that there are fewer buyers, there are usually a compensating fewer villas on the market as well. Property offered for sale during slower times of the year are generally aggressively marketed, and may not sell for a significantly lower price than they would if they were marketed in a busier period.
In the spring, a seasonal adjustment occurs, and more homes come on the market. Seller’s of property in South France, generally believe that it is better to put their private villa or an investment property in South France on the market in the spring time. The general perception is that the market will see more property buyers, looking to buy their dream villa in the South of France. However, the opposite might be true as to many people list their property for sale and the demand for houses for sale in the South of France remain rather stable over the course of the year. We do however often see buyer activity picking up in spring and early summer as families with children (still the single largest group of buyers) tend to fly over the South of France in search of a villa, house or other property to buy and move in during summer vacation. We tend to see a buyers' market in spring as to many seller’s list their properties for sale at the same time and as such that there are more homes than buyers and prices might fall slightly.
Sometimes a buyers' market or a seller’s market can exist that lasts for a longer period of time. When we look at the property market in the South of France, we tend to see a nearly constant seller’s market. There are several reason for this phenomena, the biggest being the fact that the Russians have discovered the South of France as their holiday playground. This group of property buyers have little time to shop around and generally speaking to not mind paying the asking price or even more for their South France holiday villa.
This group of buyer is rather large and in many case these Russian buyers made their personal fortune in only the last 5 tot 10 years. These buyers are therefore often ready to spend their money easier and faster on a luxury Cote Azur property then other buyers like the British or the Americans.
We used to see many Americans buy real estate in the South of France, but since the dollar has lost so much ground compared to the Euro, this group of buyers has decreased in size. This will bring back some of the equilibrium in the market and as such make it slight less of a seller’s market.
Sellers who are in a must-sell position may take little or no profit from the sale of their South of France property, or may even be forced to take a loss. The villa owners who are most hurt by a buyer's market are those with little or no equity built into the home. If they are forced to sell, they may have to come to the closing table with cash to pay their mortgage off or allow the home to be repossessed by the lender. We have however not seen such a case for a Cote d Azur villa for many years, as there is a strong demand and (to little) supply of luxury, high end villas on the Cote Azur. Actually, the demand for rather expensive, luxury houses in the whole of the South of France has been strong for many years.
However, we can concluded that this does not happen in the current property market in the South of France, as demand remains strong and supply remains not overly strong. Welcome to the perfect seller’s property market, called Real Estate in the South of France.
In most cases, South of France real estate agents consider a typical market to be one in which villas and other investment property take an average of six months to sell. Local real estate agents keep track of this number by keeping up with the days the a lusted property for sale is on the market before it finally gets sold. In the current market, listed properties for sale in the South of France tend to be on the market for less then 6 months before these villas, second houses and other South of France real estate they get sold.
Therefore we can state that the worth of inventory (homes) on hand to sell is smaller then the number of buyers in the market. This is what we call a seller’s market. If the number of months before a property in Southern France is sold rises to more then 6 months, then the market is swinging into a buyers market. A buyer's market is one in which there are too many homes on the market for the number of buyers. Homes take longer to sell and prices fall.Often property buyers and Provence real estate agents in South France, believe that winter time is a buyers' market. Although it is true that there are fewer buyers, there are usually a compensating fewer villas on the market as well. Property offered for sale during slower times of the year are generally aggressively marketed, and may not sell for a significantly lower price than they would if they were marketed in a busier period.
In the spring, a seasonal adjustment occurs, and more homes come on the market. Seller’s of property in South France, generally believe that it is better to put their private villa or an investment property in South France on the market in the spring time. The general perception is that the market will see more property buyers, looking to buy their dream villa in the South of France. However, the opposite might be true as to many people list their property for sale and the demand for houses for sale in the South of France remain rather stable over the course of the year. We do however often see buyer activity picking up in spring and early summer as families with children (still the single largest group of buyers) tend to fly over the South of France in search of a villa, house or other property to buy and move in during summer vacation. We tend to see a buyers' market in spring as to many seller’s list their properties for sale at the same time and as such that there are more homes than buyers and prices might fall slightly.
Sometimes a buyers' market or a seller’s market can exist that lasts for a longer period of time. When we look at the property market in the South of France, we tend to see a nearly constant seller’s market. There are several reason for this phenomena, the biggest being the fact that the Russians have discovered the South of France as their holiday playground. This group of property buyers have little time to shop around and generally speaking to not mind paying the asking price or even more for their South France holiday villa.
This group of buyer is rather large and in many case these Russian buyers made their personal fortune in only the last 5 tot 10 years. These buyers are therefore often ready to spend their money easier and faster on a luxury Cote Azur property then other buyers like the British or the Americans.
We used to see many Americans buy real estate in the South of France, but since the dollar has lost so much ground compared to the Euro, this group of buyers has decreased in size. This will bring back some of the equilibrium in the market and as such make it slight less of a seller’s market.
Sellers who are in a must-sell position may take little or no profit from the sale of their South of France property, or may even be forced to take a loss. The villa owners who are most hurt by a buyer's market are those with little or no equity built into the home. If they are forced to sell, they may have to come to the closing table with cash to pay their mortgage off or allow the home to be repossessed by the lender. We have however not seen such a case for a Cote d Azur villa for many years, as there is a strong demand and (to little) supply of luxury, high end villas on the Cote Azur. Actually, the demand for rather expensive, luxury houses in the whole of the South of France has been strong for many years.
However, we can concluded that this does not happen in the current property market in the South of France, as demand remains strong and supply remains not overly strong. Welcome to the perfect seller’s property market, called Real Estate in the South of France.
posted by Property Alert at
11:19 AM
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