International appetite for large, modern spreads in Paris is growing. The prices are, too.
Americans make up a big chunk of buyers and they’re buying bigger than they have before, according to the Wall Street Journal. The growth in interest is pinned on economic instability in London, favorable dollar-to-euro exchange rates, and recent French tax cuts.
American buyers want three- and four-bedroom apartments instead of the one- and two-bedroom apartments that have traditionally been popular with foreign buyers, according to Betsy Kasha, a founding partner of Paris-based developer and interior design firm AB Kasha.
“It has become a status symbol to have a Paris apartment,” she said. “It’s not just the intellectual elite now; it’s the wealth elite.”
From July through September, the average sales price in Paris reached $1,000 per square foot, or €10,100 per square meter. That’s a 25 percent increase from five years ago and a six percent increase from the same period last year, according to the Chamber of Notaries of Paris.
Prices are growing even faster at the very top end of the market — prices in the tony sixth arrondissement rose nine percent over last year to $1,500 per square foot.
Paris’ stock of townhouses and apartments isn’t quite as modern as many foreign buyers typically want, though. Most don’t have en suite bathrooms, elevators, and other amenities typical of the luxury segment, so most buyers renovate.
One American couple bought a four-bedroom apartment for around $2 million and have since sunk another $388,000 into a seven-month renovation to move the kitchen, create a master suite, and build a guest bedroom. [WSJ] — Dennis Lynch
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