Provence & Côte d’Azur: New-build sales on the rise in the Alpes Maritimes despite nationwide fall
Despite on-going downward real estate trends across France, new-builds on the Côte d’Azur did quite well in 2013 with a 20% rise in the number of sales. This encouraging performance comes with a few caveats however, as it follows a particularly bad year.
The encouraging numbers suggest that the Côte d’Azur may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, following 2012 which saw the worst real estate performance in 30 years.
In 2013, realtors sold 3,191 new-build properties in the Alpes Maritimes, a 20% rise from 2012 according to numbers from the CCI Nice Côte d’Azur. Such a performance is even more impressive when compared to the 13% fall in new-build sales in France overall.
However it is far from the number registered in 2011 when sales peaked at 4,000 in the department.
Although sales seem to be recovering in number, prices keep on falling, with an 8% decrease this year. At 4,029 euros per square metre, the Alpes Maritimes remains the third most expensive department in France, beaten only by the Hauts de Seine at 5,458 euros and of course Paris at over 8,000 euros per square metre.
Despite the new demand, construction projects continue to fall with -15% in 2013, much worse than the national average of -10.4%, leading to a decrease in available homes.
While the encouraging sales could be seen as the beginning of a recovery, real estate professionals aren’t all that optimistic, as they are still up against a stagnating economy and a tightening up of real estate fiscal laws.