Rennes Best French City for Overseas Property Investors

Rennes has been marked out at the best French city in which to invest, according to a new study from Meilleursagents.

The French estate agent ranked France’s ten biggest cities in order to find out which are best for investing property. The ranking analysed the age of the population, the length of time it takes to purchase a property, unemployment rates and the property purchasing power of its inhabitants. Net migration was also examined.

Rennes in Britanny came in top, with a low unemployment rate and a young population, with an average age of 31 years. It also took an average of merely 59 days for overseas property investors and general purchasers to buy a property. In addition, prices are expected to grow by 6 per cent over the next year.

Nantes, in the Loire region near the Atlantic coast and Toulouse in the south west and Lyon in central France were awarded four stars in the ranking. Paris also achieved four stars, although the prohibitively high property prices of €9,300 euros per square metre as opposed to €2,726 per square metre in Rennes or €2900 per square metre in Lille meant that people were only able to buy small properties in the capital.

Lille and Strasbourg were awarded three stars despite high unemployment as the property markets in these areas remain strong.

Last year’s winner, Bordeaux, fell a number of places as a hike in house prices has slowed the property market. This follows stimulation from a high speed train as well as inner city refurbishments.

Marseille and Montpellier each suffer from high unemployment, and only got two stars. However, the overall loser was Nice, which achieved just one star. This is due to an ageing population, long property transaction times and the relatively high number of people choosing to leave the city.