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These are the 10 ‘best’ cities in France to buy a property

Here are the smartest options if you're looking to buy a property in France, according to a new survey.

Published: 3 May 2017 16:35 CEST
These are the 10 'best' cities in France to buy a property
Rennes in western France. Photo: Sokoljan/WikiCommons

With rising housing prices in France, those wanting to get on the property ladder should be quick about it.

A ranking of the top ten French cities in which to invest, released Wednesday, offers some idea of where is best to entrust your hard-earned cash in the real estate market.

The ranking, released by French real estate ad publishers Explorimmo and Explorimmoneuf, was based on factors including demographic change, the jobs market, the presence of a university, as well as the comparative price of renting a studio.

Western France's Rennes outstrips all other contenders as the number one place to buy property. The lucrative market there is largely thanks to the high demand for rented accommodation from the many students who attend Rennes University.

Meanwhile, prices there are less volatile, at €2,500 per square metre (compared to €8,500 in Paris). 

Rennes offers plenty of business opportunities, includes a thriving new business district and a smoothly running transport system. Its metro system allows travel within the town, and by July this year, a high speed train will provide even quicker access to Paris.

What's more, the western city topped The Local's own rankings of the “best city in France for expats to live”.

At second on the list, Bordeaux in western France was also noted as a hotspot thanks to the new train line which has slashed the journey time to Paris to just two hours. 

The average Bordeaux home sells for €3,250 per square metre.

 
 
Third place went to Montpellier in the south, where homes range from €2,500 to €3,700 depending on their age. The city's booming Port Marianne area to the south west was noted as being particularly attractive. 
 

Nantes has been a bit of a dark horse when it comes to French cities, but by 2016, it seems that people had cottoned on to Nantes' reputation as a great place to work. It was reported that 7,500 people were moving to Nantes every year.

And businesses are too. According to the local development agency 2016 was a record year for companies relocating to Nantes. Out of the 86 firms that moved into the area, which will help create 1,400 jobs, a third had upped sticks from Paris.

The full list of the best cities in France to invest in property. Click on the top three for more information.

1. Rennes

2. Bordeaux

3. Montpellier

4. Nantes

5. Lyon

6. Lille

7. Strasbourg

8. Nîmes

9. Grenoble

10. Toulouse

OIL

Norway’s wealth fund gains 38 billion euros in first quarter

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, gained some 38 billion euros (380 billion kroner) in the first quarter, boosted by stock market investments, it said Wednesday.

Published: 21 April 2021 13:28 CEST
Norway's wealth fund gains 38 billion euros in first quarter
Norway's wealth fund, which has been built up since the 1990s from the state's oil revenues.Photo by Jan-Rune Smenes Reite from Pexels

The massive fund, which has been built up since the 1990s from the state’s oil revenues, was worth a total of 11 trillion Norwegian kroner (1.1 trillion euros) at the end of March.

In the first quarter, it posted a four percent return, driven by its equity investments, which account for 73.1 percent of its portfolio and rose by 6.6 percent.

“The rise of the equity market was to a great extent driven by the finance and energy sector,” Trond Grande, the fund’s second in command, said in a statement.

The fund also made gains on its real estate investments, which account for 2.5 percent of its assets and were up 1.4 percent, while its fixed-income investments (nearly a quarter of the portfolio) suffered a 3.2 percent loss.

At the same time, the government dipped into its piggy bank to the tune of 83 billion kroner to balance its budget.

Recently the fund made its first direct investment in renewable energy infrastructure.

READ MORE: Norway wealth fund buys first renewable energy stake 

It announced it was purchasing a 50 percent stake in the world’s second-largest offshore wind farm, the Borssele 1 & 2 wind farms located off the coast of the Netherlands in the North Sea.

The 50 percent stake is being acquired from Danish firm Orsted, which will continue to own the remaining 50 percent of the project.

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