The latest research on the residential market in France from Chesterton states that from its low point in Q4 2008, the French second home residential property market has been posting a modest recovery, albeit quarterly price growth has been variable.

In the 12 months to end Q1 2010 average new single family home and apartment prices rose respectively by 5.9% and 6.9%. Performance in the resale market over the same period has been less impressive with average prices rising only 2.6% for single family homes and just under 1% for apartments.

In the Champagne-Ardenne region average values for new single family homes fell by almost 24% in the 12 months to Q1 2010. The most expensive single family homes are currently found in the Paris and PACA (Provence-Alpes-Coted’Azur) regions while the cheapest properties are in Limousin and Bourgogne. Paris and PACA also top the list for the most expensive apartments.

The best performer in the regional single family resale sector in the 12 months to end Q1 2010 was Aquitaine (+5.2%) while in contrast both Picardie and Nord- Pas-de-Calais saw double digit price falls. In the resale apartment sector, Lower Normandy was the strongest performer over the period (+12.9%), while six regions (Limousin, Franche-Comte, Picardie, Languedoc-Roussillon, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine) all recorded double digit price falls.

The report claims that France did not experience the steep decline in prices seen in neighbouring Spain or the UK thanks in large part to a more tightly controlled mortgage market which helped to limit the volume of distressed property sales, yet even in prime locations, asking prices have fallen back by between 10%-20% from pre-recession levels.

It concludes that the outlook for the remainder of 2010 is likely to be characterised by a slow but gradual improvement in both demand and firming of prices although the aftertaste of the worst recession in most people’s living memory may well linger until next year.