Paris Property Prices Rise Again

The 3rd Quarter information on Paris property prices are out, and once again, prices are up, appreciating at an annual rate of 8.7%.  These are figures that most of us in the US can only drool over, as we watch home prices here stay stagnant or plummet, as is the case in Florida and California.  How is Paris able to chalk up gains, quarter after quarter, for the last 10 years?  From my perspective, the answer is quite simple.  A fixed supply of quality housing, coupled with international demand and modest appreciation year after year, spell success. None of this ridiculous 40%/year appreciation fueled by speculation.  Take a look at the chart below:

What does the future hold?  Who knows, but I would count on future price increases slowing down slightly to the 5-6% range as the international economy slows down.  But there is nothing in my cloudy crystal ball to indicate a downturn in the market sufficient to reverse the appreciation experienced over the last decade.

Every arrondissement experienced gains, with the 5th, 7th, 16th and 19th arrondissements experiencing double digit appreciation.

For more information or to read the full report (in French), go to www.paris.notaires.fr

Jardin Saint-Paul – Renovation Complete!

Finally, after months of hard work commencing in August, all of the niggly details that go into renovation of a home have been handled, and our work is done!  In fact, 95% of the work was done early in December, when the first of our Owners decided to give it a go. Our only major delay was for the granite counters that would replace the existing counters in the kitchen.  After weeks of waiting for delivery, we learned that the granite company was on the verge of bankruptcy! So we hastily pulled our order and started all over with another company.  Fortunately, they delivered the product as promised, and the new countertops were installed this past weekend, even while Owners were staying in the apartment! 

Today, we finally worked the kinks out of our Wifi connection with the help of a company technician, who admitted that the problem lay with Free.com and not us.  Fancy that.  Of course it took over 30 calls and 2 months to get a technician to come out and fix the problem.

All that remains is to find 3 more Paris lovers who would like to call Jardin Saint-Paul their home during their stay in the City of Light.  And then, we can put out the “SOLD OUT” sign for our 2nd successful fractional ownership project. 

Joining Facebook

It was with some trepidation that I decided to take the plunge and sign up for Facebook, a social networking community akin to MySpace.  I was amazed at how many of the people in my e-mail contacts already belonged, including a lot of nieces and nephews!  I am curious to see if this application has any useful business networking capabilities.  Right now, I am just having some fun with it, and finding it is an easy way to stay in contact with people that I ordinarily do not have the time to write to.

 If you are interested in seeing the other side of who I am, I encourage you to visit my Facebook site at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=578991571

French Information Overload on the Internet

Over the holidays, I had the chance to browse the Internet, looking for interesting sites about Paris, or France, or just about anything that would tickle the Francophile in me.  Here are a few of the gems I found:

Paris Daily Photo – www.parisdailyphoto.com  Eric Tenin tries to get a new and unique perspective on everyday life in Paris via a new photograph each day.  The results are revealing and often spectacular.

Expatica Free Audio Tours - http://www.expatica.com/fr/ext/ent_audio_tours.html

No matter if this is your first time to Paris or if you already been to France, you will always continue to learn about French culture and history, the important French monuments and the French cities. To help you increasing you knowledge without having to read tonnes of books there is a new solution: Audio Tours of France. You can find audio tours of all the cities, as well as the monuments and other interesting French sites…and all this for free!

Want to catch up on the latest in French gossip, including the “Brukozy Affair”?  Look no further than Frogsmoke.com http://frogsmoke.com, which, while dedicated to understanding the Gallic love affair with cigarettes, also provides a humorous insight into the French intrigue with all things scandalous.

Bonjour America! – Finally, a hilarous set of YouTube type videos for improving your French, written and produced with tongue in cheek by Cyrille de Lasteyrie, aka Vinvin on his website http://www.bonjour-america.com/