According to the Fédération Nationale de l'Immobilier (FNAIM), a leading industry consortium of more than 12 000 estate agencies, French property has fared very well for investors during the great recession:

• Looking at the entire French property market, there was a perceptible drop in price in only 25% of the country. This has given way in 2010 to price stability and in many cases, price increases. Parisian property leads the way with an astounding average price increase of 19.6% in 2010 according to Century 21.
• The significant drop in interest rates observed since 2009 translated to a drop in monthly French mortgage payments of 12.5% overall. Now is the time to take advantage of historically low interest rate mortgages.
• Thanks to a newfound fluidity in the resale market (mainly for existing properties), France has seen an increase of more than 18% in overall re-sales. The number of transactions should surpass 700,000 in 2010.

Source: FNAIM : Q3 French real estate perspectives