Most Popular Second Home Locations in France

A second home is seen as desirable by many people in France. So, when it comes to UK overseas property investors investing in French property, who better to listen to than the French themselves.

In a survey of about 1,200 internet users it has been found which locations the French most desire to have their second home.

It seems that the French love a beach, as all the top ten most desirable locations are situated by the coast.

Those wanting a second home would like it to be not too far away, with 41 per cent of those surveyed saying that their second home should be less than 3 hours away from their main home by car.

Apartments were the property of choice for the second residence, with 38 per cent planning to rent it out to cover costs and hopefully turn a profit.

One in three of those surveyed are planning to buy a second home within the next 3 years, with an average maximum budget set of €250,000.

The idea of a second home is very popular in France, with 3.3 million second homes making up 9.4 per cent of the total housing stock in the country.

So where do the French want their second homes?

Top of the list comes Le Bassin d’Arcachon (see main picture) on the south west coast of France and just an hour from Bordeaux, with 21 percent of the people asked naming this as the place they most want to own a second home.

Next on the list came the Normandy coastal resort of Deauville. Located less than 2 hours from Paris it has been popular with Parisians for years.

Third spot went to the Mediterranean fishing port of Cassis, while Sainte Maxime on the French Riviera between Cannes and Toulon grabbed fourth place.

An island just off the west coast came in fifth, with 16 per cent wanting a holiday home on Ile de Ré.

The famous town of Biarritz was the favourite of 15 per cent reaching sixth place, while seventh spot went to the peninsula of Quiberon on the southern coast of Brittany.

A close neighbour of Biarritz on the south west Basque coast, Saint-Jean de Luz made the list in eighth place.

For ninth place, we are back to the French Riviera to the resort of Ramatuelle, near Saint-Tropez.

Finally making up the top ten we go to the French island of Corsica, where Porto-Vecchio in southern Corsica was the tenth most desirable place in France to have a holiday home.

So, it seems the French love a second home, and it may be worth UK overseas property investors noting where they are most attracted to. After all, they should know.