“In 2024, 0.9% of transactions carried out in Isère were carried out by non-resident foreign buyers”indicates Maître Clément Dubreuil, notary. They were already less than 1% in 2022, according to the Notaries of France.
But not everyone chooses to buy a medieval vestige to restore it with total respect for the place as did, in the years 1995-2005, an American and then a couple of Australians who fell under the spell of the Treuil tower at Allevard.
Foreigners and expatriates
“Two international clienteles coexist in the region”explains Dominique Tournier, real estate expert in Grenoble. “Those who buy a second home and those who come to work in the region. »
According to Véronique Madoré, associate director of the real estate agency Espaces Atypicals in Grenoble, “ French expatriates can be included in this international clientele. »
Some in fact anticipate their return to France and buy a property as a second home, like this Grenoblois living in Africa who fell under the spell of a Californian villa of 215 m² built in a wooded park of 5,000 m² or this couple working in Shanghai, seduced by a 300 m² house with swimming pool in Saint-Martin-d'Uriage.
Buyers from all countries
The Grenoble region has many assets to attract these foreign buyers: a very dynamic economic, scientific and academic fabric with its international companies, its research centers, its major schools and faculties, but also the massifs which border it, fabulous areas of outdoor activities.
And these potential buyers do not only come from Europe. “We are also contacted by Americans, Australians, Indians, Chinese…” notes Véronique Madoré.
The distribution of its real estate advertisements on platforms such as Properties Le Figaro or Listglobally offers solid international visibility to the agency. Still. This market remains a micro-market.
Romain Reverbel, director of the Prestige Transaction Grenoble agency, confirms this: “We have few foreign buyers. Nothing to do with Nice where in our agency we speak English every four mornings. »
Potential buyers who have come to the region to work are instead looking for properties close to amenities like this Indian couple who have owned a 146 m² triplex loft in Grenoble since 2022, purchased for €350,000.
“And those who come from the USA are looking for spaces of at least 150 to 250 m². Rather in the hyper-center”underlines Sylvie Barrier, real estate advisor at Espaces Atypicals.
But they often have to be patient.
Mostly European in resort
The “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” (FATCA), a law that came into force on July 1, 2014 in the United States to combat tax evasion, makes the acquisition of real estate more complex for taxpayers domiciled in the USA for tax purposes.
“The procedures take time and may require the intervention of tax lawyers”testifies Karine Lambert, sales agent for the Madame Immobilier agency in Saint-Ismier, contacted by Americans who, often coming to work in Grenoble, plan to settle there.
In the mountains too, foreign buyers are not legion. “First and foremost, we have a great French clientele,” indicates Françoise Robin, head of the Sotheby's International real estate agency that the DeSavoie group in Tignes will open at the beginning of December in L'Alpe d'Huez.
And even for specialists like Leggett international real estate, only 12 of its 34 transactions carried out in Isère in 2023-2024 were by foreigners.
“Half of the goods I have sold over the past 10 years have been bought by British people”adds Niven Dyer, Leggett sales agent in Oisans.
This is for example the case of this chalet in the heart of Venosc which, renovated, is put back on sale for €499,000. “But since Brexit, it’s more and more complicated for them if they don’t have a good financial contribution,” he notes.
In the other massifs, there are fewer foreign buyers. But still rather European, like these Belgians who became owners for €212,000 of a second home of 150 m² on 450 m² of land in excellent condition in Corps, in 2023.
Who are the foreign buyers?
According to the Notaries of France, the share of resident foreign buyers represented 4.5% of existing real estate purchases in France and that of non-resident foreigners 1.8%, for a total of 6.2%.
Non-resident foreign buyers bought 2% of old houses, 1.5% of old apartments and 1% of new apartments sold nationally.
And in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, 23% of these non-resident foreigners were Swiss, 18% British and 17% Belgian.
They bought old houses on average 35% more expensive than resident foreigners, i.e. much more than the national average (+ 13%) or that of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region (+ 25%).
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