• Brittany has always been very attractive since the start of the Covid-19 crisis and is attracting many newcomers.

  • This attractiveness has caused a surge in property prices in the region, particularly on the coast but also in the heart of the metropolis.

  • According to the notaries, this price increase should continue, in particular due to the low number of properties available in the region.

A year and a half after the first confinement experienced in France, the situation is still the same. Brittany continues to seduce and gains new inhabitants every day. Relatively spared by the Covid-19 and with a real estate portfolio consisting of 70% of houses, the region ticks many boxes of the aspirations of future buyers. “With confinements and the use of telecommuting, people are longing for more space. They want bigger and are looking for a garden or at least a balcony ”, slips Marie-Virginie Durand, notary in Loire-Atlantique. The problem is that the offers are becoming increasingly scarce while the demand remains very high. Result ? Real estate prices keep on rising. Look on the coastline. In one year,the price of old houses has jumped by 46% in La Trinité-sur-Mer and 51% in Locmariaquer, in Morbihan. In Piriac-sur-Mer and Le Croisic, in the neighboring Loire-Atlantique department, the figures are the same.

In metropolitan France, it is not better. In Rennes and Nantes, the price of old apartments has jumped by more than 12% to reach more than 3,300 euros per m² on average and even 3,900 euros in the city of the dukes. After a record year in which the number of transactions reached an all-time high (118,000 from June to June), the shortage awaits professionals in the sector. “We don't have any property to sell, but there are still as many buyers”, explains Damien Guéguen, a notary in Rennes. On the site of the regional council, normally finds "20,000 to 25,000 offers in general". At the moment, the figure painfully exceeds 5,000 announcements.

An essential question that will shake up many habits with global warming.

Whim of the rich?

Or future necessity?


Second homes, a wealth or a scourge for Brittany?

https://t.co/2dZZnQpCHU via @ 20minutes

- ericrobinne (@ericrobinne) February 5, 2020

If notaries are rubbing their hands to see the number of transactions at such a high level, the situation turns out to be much more embarrassing for buyers.

According to data from Brittany notaries, one in four sales made in the region benefits someone outside the department.

Parisians?

Yes, but not that.

“Ile-de-France residents represent less than 10% of buyers.

The figure is rather constant ”, assures the regional council of notaries.

With its low unemployment rate and its privileged living environment, Brittany is attractive everywhere, and not only in the Paris region.

"There is no reason for the price increase to fade"

Will the soaring prices which spares almost no one last? Difficult to say as the real estate market is so changeable. But "there is no reason for the price increase to fade in the coming months," said Olivier Arens. To arrive at this observation, the president of the regional council of notaries is based on simple facts. “Inventories have gone down but not demand. When supply and demand are out of balance, this automatically creates a rise in prices. As the market remains tight, there is no reason for this to stop ”. Difficult to say in what proportions. It will also depend on the ability of communities to build housing to relax the market.

The "good news" of this price increase is to the credit of rural communities.

Long shunned, the towns of the third or even fourth ring of metropolises are beginning to appeal to those who cannot invest in the city, contributing to a revival of demographic and economic dynamism.

“Teleworking has accelerated this trend.

Banks are in great demand for bridging loans from families who want to change the environment, ”confirms Olivier Arens.

The campaign may have its revenge.

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