The price of a building plot in France in 2009 averaged €55m², an increase of €1m² over 2008.

This average figure disguises large regional and other more local differences.

Lowest prices could be found in rural areas, where the price averaged €28m², while highest prices were to be found in Paris, at €298m².

The figures come from the annual review of building land prices carried out by the statistical service of the French government.

As the table below shows, the cheapest region for building land was the Limousin, where the average price of a building plot was €16m², an increase of €2m² on 2008.

The most expensive region was the Ile de France, where the price of a building plot averaged €194m², an increase of €4m² on 2008.

The differences in the prices of building plots meant that, while in Paris the cost of building land averaged 48% of the total cost of constructing a house, it was as low as 25% in some other regions.

Size of Building Plots

The size of the building plots averaged 1161m², a reduction of 6% on 2008.

Once again there were significant variations across the country.

Perhaps not surprisingly, with Limousin being the cheapest region in France for building land, purchasers were keen to buy more of it, with building plots averaging 1939m², whereas in the Ile de France they averaged a meagre 728m².

This meant that the average price of building plots in the Limousin was €31,700, while in the Ile de France they averaged €140, 900.

The figures also demonstrate that not everyone is equal when it comes to what they pay for building land. Thus, while those from professional groups paid an average of €80m² per plot, farmers paid on average €21m².

The table below provides a summary of building land prices in France by administrative region.