French Riviera property falls in price, pound gains versus euro

By Peter Lavelle, Foreign Exchange Broker ar PureFX

Great news if you intend to buy a French Riviera property this year! The pound to euro exchange rate has risen sharply in the past 12 months, greatly cutting the cost of buying on the French Riviera. To be specific, sterling has climbed +7.2% or +9 cents compared to January 2015, to hit 1.34 this week. Hence, you’ll get a far higher euro total when you transfer to your French bank account!

So for example, were you to transfer £500,000 to France to buy a newly-built apartment in Cannes, or a Provence villa next to a golf course, you’d now receive €670,000, or +€45,000 more than if you’d made the same transfer back in January last year. Hence, with these extra euros, you could pay off the legal fees associated with buying a French Riviera property, or even the real estate costs!

Moreover, 2016 looks set to be an even better time to buy a French Riviera property, if the pound to euro exchange rate climbs higher. Sterling could continue to strengthen versus the common currency, because the UK has been the fastest-growing economy in the G7 for the past 3 years, boosting the pound. Meanwhile, the Eurozone economy is still firmly stuck in neutral.

Given all this, it’s a fantastic time to buy a property in the French Riviera thanks to this favourable exchange rate.

In addition, to read more about why it’s a great time to buy a French Riviera property, please find below an article from The Telegraph, which explains that the cost of buying a French property has fallen by –25%, and could fall further: Read article