The French region referred to as ‘Ile-de-France’ is basically made up of Paris and its main suburbs – hence its alternative local name Région Parisienne - and because the capital of France is just such a popular marketplace with active interest for property to buy and rent from people from all over the world, this particular part of France can make an exceptionally good location for real estate investment purposes, no matter what the rest of the French property market is doing!
However, the region is broad and the range of property as well as median prices are even broader so in this article we’ll try and show you where best to buy French property in Île-de-France depending on what it is you’re looking for.
Île-de-France is divided into 25 arrondissements with the first or 1er arrondissement encompassing both the geographic and the historic heart of the city of Paris. This section of the city is on the Right Bank of the River Seine and has both incredible rental market demand as well as exceptionally high real estate prices!
If you can afford a property in this location you will be able to rent it out year round to the tourism market and command strong rental returns. It’s a great location to examine if your budget stretches to it just because of the rental returns, the fact that you’ll be able to resell it very easily and because the 1er arrondissement is such a fun and atmospheric place to live.
Moving on to the 2eme arrondissement which is largely a business district with resultant weekday buzzing activity, this is another location with a strong rental market. Here you have a best of both world’s scenario…you can long term let to professional tenants or you can tourism let for most of the year as an alternative. There are a lot of historic, listed and protected buildings in this location so do be aware that depending on what you do buy, you may not be able to make much more than small cosmetic changes to your property.
Moving further away from the geographic heart of the city, if you prefer to purchase to let to a chic and wealthy clientele why not favour the 8eme arrondissement – home to the original Buddha Bar and the Champs-Elysées for example this is another expensive part of Île-de-France but you can get some stunning French property here with some of the best views across the city’s most famous and beautiful sights. Prices are high but so is the rental income that you can command and the night life is great!
Our final favourite is Versailles – although not far from the city of Paris it somehow feels a world away because the pace of life in Versailles is far more laid back. Tourism numbers are still high but because there is a great deal of open parkland in this particular part of the Île-de-France you feel like you personally have a lot more space! This area appeals to families with the main breadwinner easily able to commute by car or excellent public transport into the heart of Paris for work. Versailles is certainly a more peaceful part of Région Parisienne to consider - even though it still manages to maintain a vibrant community packed with excellent shopping and leisure activities.
If you want to buy to let in France and you have a strong budget or you’re able to get a good French mortgage, Île-de-France is well worth your consideration…
