Rents increased by an average of 2.2% last year, achieving an average of €12.60 per m².

The survey was carried out by ‘Clameur’, an observatory based at the University of Paris sponsored by the major commercial landlords in France.

It covered over 90% of the annual lettings in France for unfurnished properties let on an annual basis. Holiday and furnished lettings were not part of the survey.

The following table shows the average rents per number of 'pièces' (rooms excluding kitchen, bathroom and toilet). As can be seen, the smaller the property the higher the m² rate is the rental.

As always, the national average figures hide significant differences between the regions.

The most expensive region was the Ile de France, with an average rent of €18.5/m², with Franche Comté and the Limousin the least expensive at around €8.5/m², a difference of over 100%.

Beyond the Franche Comté and the Limousin, other regions at the bottom end of the market were Auvergne, Champagne-Ardenne and the Lorraine all at around €9/m².

The regions of Aquitaine, Bourgogne, Bretagne, Centre, Midi-Pyrénées and the Pays de la Loire had average rents between €9.5/m² €10.5/m².

Between €10.5/m² and €11/m² were Alsace, Basse Normandie, Haute Normandie, Picardie and Poitou-Charentes.

In Languedoc-Roussillon and Rhône-Alpes rents averaged €11/m² and €11.5/m²

The two regions of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur averaged over €12/m²

Since 2006 rents have increased by an average of 1.6% a year, slightly below the level of inflation. That is well below the average increase for the period 1998 to 2006, when rents increased by 4.1% a year.

The authors state that there were signs of a downturn in the market in the first two months of 2013, although with some regions continuing to show an upward trend.