The average sale price of a rural French property rose by 2.1% last year to €168,200, but with significant variations between departments.

The annual review of the housing market for country properties in 2018 has recently been published by the French rural land agency SAFER.

Although the notaires regularly report on the state of the housing market in France, as most transactions from which the figures are derived are based on sales in urban areas their reports are only of limited value to international buyers seeking information on the state of the market for rural properties.

The gap left by the notaires is partially filled by the annual report from SAFER, which focuses entirely on this market.

Their data is obtained from the notaires, who are legally obliged to notify them of prospective rural land and property sales, on which they then have a right of pre-emption. 

However, caution is needed in the interpretation of the figures due to the low number of transactions in most departments and the heterogeneous nature of the market. In some cases, the figures are based on no more than a few hundred transactions that have occurred.

On a national basis SAFER state that the average sale price of a 'maison de campagne' in 2017 was €168,200. The average amount of land in each sale was 5,600m2.

The definition of a 'maison de campagne' used in the study is 'un bâtiment résidentiel vendu avec un terrain agricole ou naturel libre de moins de 5 hectares, acquis par des non-agriculteurs.'

As can be seen from the graphic below, prices varies substantially between the regions; the least expensive areas, with average prices around €100K, are Central and North East France, the Pyrenees and Brittany, as well as parts of some other regions.

Highest average prices greater than €230K are around the Paris Basin, Alsace, Haute-Savoie, the Mediterranean coast, the Atlantic coast, and around the cities of Lyon, Toulouse and Bordeaux.

The table below provides the actual figures for each department, showing the average sales prices for 2018 compared to 2017, and the minimum and maximum sales prices. The analysis excludes the lowest priced 10% and highest priced 10% of sales.

Due to the low number of transactions it would be imprudent to regard the movement in average prices between 2017 and 2018 as being particularly significant; it is as likely to be a change in the structure of sales as a price change.

Nevertheless, of the 91 departments for which figures are provided, prices have increased in 63 of them, reflecting the general national increase that has occurred. The ups and downs of the market are spread right across the country, with the exception of Brittany, the only region where prices rose in all departments.

Where average prices have fallen over 2017 they are shown in bold. Stand out figures are a fall in prices in the Alps, and a incredible €57,000 average price for a property in Creuse.