Situated in an elevated position with no near neighbours and excellent views of Pyrenees.
Three bedrooms, two bathrooms and vast living/dining room 60m2 with fireplace.
Beautiful park laid to lawn.
Sauveterre de Bearn is a medieval city with weekly market, bars and restaurants.
Gave d’Oloron Class I salmon and trout fishing river.

Beautiful villa in landscaped garden with stunning views of the Pyrénées. The property has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, garage and 60m2 living/dining room. The park extends to 3300m2 and is laid to lawn. The medieval city of Sauveterre de Bearn is just a km away but, very handy, you have a supermarket just a five minute walk away! Ideal home from home.

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Maison de Maitre – formerly a domaine of over 200 hectares.
Original marble mosaic floor in the entrance vestibule.
Five large bedrooms with private bathrooms.
Park of just under four hectares.
Former stables and other outbuildings.
19th century canal and fountain.
Ideal for equestrian property or boutique hotel.

A magnificent ninteenth century manor house near to the Landes village of Amou. The property sits in a landscaped parc of just under 4 hectares and offers 410m² of habitable space and 13 rooms which are light and spacious. The vestibule, which has an original fan shaped mosaic italian marble floor, opens out into a large well equipped country style kitchen, spacious dining room with wooden wainscotting and floor in coloured marble, living room with original fittings, five large bedrooms, all with private bathrooms. There is also a separate apartment and 4 outbuildings, giving great potential for expansion. On the upper floor is a loft area with wonderful oak substructure. Ideal boutique hotel or equestrian property.

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Character 19th century town house in historic village.
Independent cottage to renovate.
Three bedrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen.
All shops and entertainments just a short walk away.
Sauveterre is a lively village with weekly market, annual fêtes and bars/restaurants.
The Gave d’Oloron is class I for salmon and trout fishing.

In the heart of the stunning medieval city of Sauveterre de Bearn, village house with garden, private entry and independant cottage to renovate. The main house has three bedrooms, kitchen, dining room and living room with open fire and exposed beams. The garden is just under a quarter of an acre and the cottage is 60m2. Sauveterre is a lively place with a weekly market, annual fêtes and the Gave d’Oloron which is classed I for salmon and trout fishing.

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Character 19th century town house in historic village.
Independent two bedroomed flat.
Garage and secret courtyard built into the walls of the medieval city.
First floor terrace overlooking 13th century tower.
All shops and entertainments on foot.
Swimming and fishing in the Gave d’Oloron or just drinking tea in the waterside café.
Beaches, skiing and Spain just one hour’s drive.

In the heart of the beautiful medieval city of Sauveterre de Bearn, imposing town house with separate two bedroomed flat. In total there are two kitchens, dining room, 2 living rooms, two bathrooms, office and garage. There is a lovely terrace on the first floor and a secret courtyard built into the walls of the city which leads to a private garden. A really special property!

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In heart of beautiful béarnaise village.
Four/five bedrooms.
Large sunny living room with Scandinavian style wood burning stove.
Compact garden with garage.
Five minute’s drive from Navarrenx, a medieval bastide town.

On the Chemin de Compostelle to Spain, the beach and the ski slopes one hour.

This spacious four + bedroomed contemporary property, in just under 1000m² of garden, is waiting to welcome you as its new owner! Just a short drive from the walled bastide medieval city of Navarrenx, the house is in the middle of a historic village. The house has a wooden substructure and is extremely economic in terms of energy consumption. There is a large living room with wood burning stove which heats all of the ground floor, a well proportioned kitchen and you can look out onto the terrace and the surrounding fields.

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Character 19th century town house.
Large living spaces – ideal for big family or two families.
Private courtyard and balcony.
All shops and entertainments on foot.
Orthez is a town of 10000 inhabitants with weekly markets and all major facilities.
Ski slopes, sea and Spain within an hour’s drive.

In the heart of the busy market town of Orthez, you will find this substantial 19th century town house which is just a short walk from shops and schools. It comprises kitchen, living room, four bedrooms, shower and bathrooms. There is a private courtyard and place to park your car. Full of potential!

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Character 19th century town house.
Large barn and easily managed garden.
Fully renovated with gas central heating.
Lively village with excellent auberge.

Easy access to Pau and OrthezBasque coast, ski slopes and Spain one hourIn the heart of a typical Béarnaise village, you will find this 19th century stone built house with large living room, fully fitted kitchen, four bedrooms and two bathrooms. There is a beautiful walled courtyard with exposed stone walls and a huge barn which leads to the garden. The village contains local shops and an auberge and is well placed for access to Pau.

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Heart of beautiful medieval south west french town.
Three bedrooms, sunny living room and fitted kitchen.
All shops and entertainments on foot.
Golf club and tennis club in town.
Ski slopes, sea and Spain within an hour’s drive.

In a quiet quarter of the medieval spa town of Salies de Bearn, a 1958 house with basement, with three bedrooms, sunny living room and cosy kitchen. There is a large lower ground floor which is ideal for those who love DIY or need to make the accommodation larger. All the shops and entertainments of this lively village are just a few minutes’ walk away.

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Despite a record year for property sales in France in 2011 it was a contrasting picture on house prices, and there are clear signs of a slowdown in 2012.

According to a French notaires, who recently published their review of the property market for 2011, some 858,000 sales were registered in France last year, an increase of 9% over 2010, and the highest number of sales recorded in a single year.

The notaires attribute this exceptional level of activity to changes in capital gains tax, which became effective from February 2012, precipitating the sale of a large number of second homes (amongst French owners as much as international owners).

This may well explain why sales in the regions increased by an average of 14%, while those in the Ile de France actually went down by 8%. The highest increase in sales occured in Tarn (31%), Corrèze (+28%) and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (+24%).

In addition to the tax changes, the notaires consider that abolition of State sponsored interest free mortgages (prêt à taux zéro) on existing property from 2012 pushed a large number first time buyers into acquiring a property. There were nearly 300,000 such sales in 2011.

The average increase in house prices in 2011 was 2.1%, but this national figure includes strong growth of around 6% in the Ile de France. When this is stripped out of the analyses, then the average increase over the rest of the country was 1.3%.

Even here there was a great deal of variation between the different departments of the country. While prices rose in most departments, in 8 they actually decreased. Largest falls greater than -5% were in Cantal (Limousin) and Haut-Marne (Champagne-Ardenne).

Strongest price growth occurred in the major towns and cities – Paris (14.7%), Rennes (9.4%), Bordeaux (8.7%), Nantes (8.7%), Toulouse (8.0%), Toulon (7.6%) and Nice (7.5%).

The following image shows the average change in prices in 2011 by department of France.

Source: PERVAL/Notaires de France

The impact on average prices for houses in each department of France, excluding the Ile de France is shown on the table below.

While it is dangerous to make too many generalisations, it will be seen that the cheapest average prices are to be found in the departments of Orne (Lower Normandy), Cher and Indre (Centre), Nievre (Burgundy), Allier (Auvergne), Creuse (Limousin), Meuse (Lorraine), Haute-Marne (Champagne Ardenne) and Haute-Saône (Franche-Comté)

Not surprisingly, the most expensive properties are to be found along the Mediterranean coast in Provence Côtes d’Azur, in the mountain ski-resorts of Haute-Savoie, as well as in the Rhône department, around its capital city Lyon, in the Rhône-Alps region.

Source: PERVAL/Notaires de France

Outlook
It is rare for property professionals and housing economists in France to agree on their prognostics, but for once there does seem to be a general consensus that both sales and prices will fall this year.

The only question seems to be just what the scale of the downturn will be, on which there seems to be less agreement.

Perhaps not surprisingly the estate agents take the more optimistic stance. The large national chain Century 21 consider that prices will only fall marginally as demand remains strong; FNAIM, the association of estate agents forecast falls averaging 5%.

By contrast, in their latest forecast the notaires seemed to have become gloomier, believing that prices will fall this year by up 10%.

The economists also take a mixed view, with Standard and Poor’s notably saying prices will fall 15% by the end of 2013. A similar view is expressed by Credit Agricole, who consider house prices are substantially overvalued, and that the fall this year will be around 6% for older property, with a similar fall into 2013, and with little prospect of any recovery for several years.

Conversely, Xerfi consider that with 300,000 new households in France each year, the impact of the downturn will be contained to around 2.6% in 2012, although in some areas it will be greater. They talk of ‘l’adustment, pas de krach’.

In the current economic climate it is not difficult to take the line of least resistance and to think that there could be a general collapse. However, to date the more apocalyptic forecasts from some economists have owed more to astrology than to analyses, so wrong have they been.

Early reports from agents and notaires certainly indicate a slowdown in sales and prices is happening, accompanied by a spectacular (40%) fall in the number of mortgages that have been granted, as banks tighten their lending criteria.

The fiscal changes that have occurred in the past year, such as toughening of capital gains, the increases in social charges, and the reduction in tax breaks, are also likely to mean that investment property could be hit quite badly in 2012.

However, while it is unquestionably a buyer’s market, such is the diverse nature of the French housing market that local conditions and different property types will mean there continues to be a wide variety of outcomes.

Much is also likely to depend on the result of the French presidential elections, for if the more expansionist economic policies of François Hollande seize the day, then the fortunes of the market could change.

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Near the busy market town of Orthez, large 19th century béarnaise farmhouse containing four bedrooms, living room, kitchen and dining room together with barn on a plot of land of just over two hectares. If you are looking for tranquility without isolation, this is the property for you! Possibility of purchasing further land.

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