Think South of France and St Tropez, Cannes, Nice and Monaco will probably spring to mind but this summer all eyes are looking west of these traditional tourism destinations, to La Camargue – Western Europe’s largest river delta, just 1 hour from Marseille.

Covering some 930km, where the river Rhône meets the Mediterranean Sea, La Camargue occupies a coastal area between the Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence. Established as a national park and nature reserve in 1972, La Camargue contains exceptional bio-diversity with over 400 species of birds including the ubiquitous pink flamingos, the famous Camargue horses, unique breeds of bulls and now a new eco-friendly leaseback development.  Read more... (403 words, 1 image, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Top 5 Activities to enjoy in the French Alps this summer

The French Alps are renowned as a top winter tourism destination attracting millions each year to its pristine pistes, exclusive resorts and charming villages.

But the area is not only to be enjoyed for a few months each winter, the French Alps offer a wealth of attractions in summer also and with latest reports from French mortgage specialist, Athena Mortgages, stating that May was the busiest month of the past 12 in terms of enquiries, it would seem that buyers are seeking Alpine homes that they can use all year round.  Read more... (653 words, 1 image, estimated 2:37 mins reading time)

French property is rapidly becoming the place to buy in Europe again for overseas property investors. During the boom years, many property investors took mortgages out on homes in their own countries to purchase property abroad however with the recent economic shakiness, overseas property purchases dwindled.

However many investors are now looking to buy again although many are looking to buy properties in established markets which appear to be relatively stable – and France, with it’s fairly stable property market and solid financial system appears to be heading up the list.  Read more... (311 words, 1 image, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)

Foreign property owners with holiday lets in Paris are being warned to ensure that they are fully complaint with local laws as flouting the rules could lead to a fine of up to 25,000 Euro a day and a criminal record.

The Office of the Mayor of Paris has stringent rules that now demands that property investors who let out their Parisian properties pay for affordable housing equal in size and similar in location and style to that which they are renting out. These rules have led many buy-to-letters to keep their buy-to-let propeties unofficial – any holiday property which is let out should be given government permission ahead of the start of the property’s lettings.  Read more... (458 words, 1 image, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

• French property prices rise by 0.1% during September
• Prices now 2.8% higher than six months ago
• Number of French mortgage enquiries through Athena up 21% Q3 on Q2
• French mortgage completions at Athena Mortgages up 14% Q3 on Q2

Similar to the UK, the French residential property market is continuing to show signs of stabilisation. While prices* fell by 1% during Q3 as a whole, they rose by 0.1% during September, resulting in a total positive return for the period April to September 2009 of 2.8%. Returns for the 12 months to September 2009 have now pulled back to a respectable -7.8%.  Read more... (663 words, estimated 2:39 mins reading time)

Athena Mortgages has launched a ‘next generation’ hybrid French mortgage product in conjunction with a major French bank. The new product, exclusive to Athena Mortgages, and with a typical rate of 3%, enables borrowers to split their mortgage amount into an interest-only portion and a repayment portion.

This is an evolution of the traditional hybrid mortgage structure in France, which sets out an interest-only period for a number of years followed by a defined repayment period until the end of the loan. The minimum loan amount for the product is €300,000 and within that the minimum level for the interest-only portion is €100,000.  Read more... (466 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Buzz Returns to French Property Market, as Sales and Enquiries Rise

• Mortgage applications up 9% during August
• Property sales 15% higher during August
• West of France proves the most popular with British Buyers

Interest in the French property market continued to grow during August, in line with positive macro-economic news.
In mid-August, it emerged that France was the first of the EU nations to come out of recession, showing growth of 0.3% between April and June.  Read more... (627 words, estimated 2:30 mins reading time)