Just thought you might like to know that France remains a favourite despite the Pounds fall against the Euro.

The past few months have seen the Pound fall to new lows against the Euro, however France still continues to enjoy the highest number of property enquiries from British buyers eager to shore up a holiday property or retire abroad.  This statistic is reinforced by Currencies Direct one of the UK’s leading foreign exchange specialists who work as partners with Rightmove – the UK’s largest property portal.

Although total enquiry numbers are down in comparison to this time last year, as Rightmove’s currency partner Currencies Direct is well positioned to confirm that the largest proportion of enquiries that we receive from British buyers are linked to France.  French property prices have fallen alongside the pound’s decline meaning that as long as the buyer is purchasing a property that has genuinely been reduced then the net price is comparable to what was being asked 6-12 months ago.

James Shattock – Currencies Direct

Business Development Manager – UK and Ireland

Just back from the Cote d’Azur and the weather was mainly sunny during the day with some cool nights – obviously prices seemed a bit higher in restaurants etc but we had a great time with friends, buying the best quality food – meat, fish, vegetables and of course patisserie – and cooking for ourselves – the flavour of the food there just seems better – more local and fresher produce we felt.  The air was so clear, the sea blue and in the distance the mountains had snow on them – it just made us feel better to be there.    Walks along the beaches and around Cap d’Antibes one day and within 90 minutes or less we could be skiing.  The bonus of these difficult days is that the flights are very reasonably priced – a few days there can be cheaper than staying at home sometimes and the benefit of making you feel better – less doom and gloom – goes without saying.  On property prices there is some movement – so that you could get yourself a very good deal at present and be sitting pretty when things improve – like here, the rental market is more buoyant so that you can could get a rental income on the property until you feel in a position to use it more.  All things considered – and even the Euro rate improving – it is not a bad time to buy – mortgages are available so remember there is life with the credit crunch – rather than just sitting it out and hoping something good will happen – you can make it happen.