Difficult one! Estate agents and "notaires" have finally come to terms with reality: they now concede that prices have receded by a tiny 2% nationwide last year, but with substantial regional variation - and a substantial fall in the last three months. Probably meaning: flat nationwide during the 1st 6 months of 2008, and falling from then on. Century 21 France announce today that they anticipate a further price drop of 6 to 10% in 2009, with big disparities. My view is that prices may fall 10 to 12% nationwide, with prices holding up for good value properties where demand is high (Paris, city centers, and "unique", pristine properties). That means that price drops of 40% from early 2008 shoudl not be uncommon for some properties. It now seems that some sellers who had taken their properties off the market from July 2008, are coming back with offered prices substantially reduced, because they know understand that prices are heading down for good. That's a positive sign.
(Century 21 add that they think that 4,000 to 6,000 estate agencies should close in 2009: that's 50% of all agencies set up in the last 4 years...)
