only one region of France is not experiencing the crisis

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– A clue: the only French region to resist the real estate crisis is very sunny.

A bit like the Gallic village of Asterix which still resists the Roman invader, a single French region escaped the decline in real estate prices caused by the crisis of the last two years. Under the effect of the quadrupling of credit rate between the start of 2022 and the end of 2023, the prices of old apartments fell by 4.1% on average, over the last two years, within the network ofreal estate agencies Century 21 France, indicates its president, Charles Marinakis, during a press conference this Monday, January 6. The prices of old houses plunged by 5.6% in the same interval.

Charles Marinakis usually recalls that he “There is not one French real estate market, but French real estate markets.” He did not fail to repeat it, emphasizing that «the PACA region (Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur) has not experienced a real estate crisis.” As proof, he cites a real estate price which, unlike other regions, continued to increase between the end of 2022 and the end of 2024, by 3.8%, to 4,729 euros per square meter on average. This brings the increase in the price per square meter in the region to 26% since 2019, before the outbreak of the health crisis. “This corresponds to an increase of 5% per year, it’s enormous”insisted Charles Marinakis.

Real estate buyers who pay cash

It must be said that the PACA region “is very attractive, particularly because of its sunshine”admits the boss of Century 21 France. Above all, «foreign customers are very present there. But these are people who pay cash”he adds. The surge in mortgage rates in just two years was therefore not a concern for these wealthy foreign buyers. Neither for less fortunate French buyers but who, retirement came, were able to buy a property in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur in cash after having sold their Parisian apartment.

An apartment that they may not have sold in good conditions, by the way. In contrast to the PACA region, the average price per square meter in the capital has fallen by almost 10% over the last two years, to 9,321 euros. A price which still represents a capital gain of 25% for a purchase made ten years earlier, in 2014.