The new build housing market grew strongly in the first quarter, but new home sales were down.

There were 106,000 housing starts in the first quarter, an increase of 33.7% over the same period in 2010.

Over the past twelve months, from April 2010 to March 2011, the number of new housing starts totalled 373,000 homes, up 12.4% over the period April 2009 to March 2010.

A similar picture occurred in relation to planning consents, with more than 122,000 housing units authorized for construction in the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 14.5% over the same period of 2010.

Over the past twelve months 469,000 new homes have been authorised for construction, an increase of 15.9% higher than that observed between April 2009 and March 2010.

Both in terms of new starts and planning consents, the growth was highest for apartments over individual houses.

Sales Down

Elsewhere, the house builders (Fédération des Promoteurs Immobiliers - FPI) reported that sales of new homes were down 24% in the first quarter, compared with the same period in 2010.

They state the main reasons for the drop in sales are the increase in new house prices over the past year and the recent increases that have occurred in interest rates.

Hardest hit were Lyon and Auvergne where new build sales were down by 44%. In Provence and Centre they fell 43%, 35% in Strasbourg, 34% in Brittany, 30% in Toulouse and 25% in Lille. Only the Côte d’Azur saw positive growth (+12%).