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So how is the virus affecting the real estate market for locals? Not very much in terms of those looking to buy.
The number of active buyers has dropped from 17% of the population surveyed in February to 15% in March since confinement. The percentage of those over 35 yrs old stayed the same but those under it dropped by 5%.
With agencies closed and visits impossible, this means demand will be pent up until the quarantine ends. Couple this with interest rates being slashed from an almost impossibly low level, governments flooding the economy with trillions of printed money, and real estate being one of the only retreats as the stock market is set to take another pummelling as one of the worst recessions this century looms...
Although this may be great news in other areas, it's not good for Nice. It was already a sellers market before the virus hit. When the quarantine lifts, it is hard to see people releasing one of their prized assets in one of the safest real estate cities in the world. Personally I believe the volume of transactions is going to remain low until end of Autumn this year.
Is it a good time to buy? Absolutely. At any cost? That is rarely ever a good scenario.
So what is my advice? Whereas usually it was possible to fly over and buy in one weekend, it may now take several trips. Coincidentally flights and accommodation will be absolutely rock bottom price when the quarantine lifts. The best properties sell between 1-14 days. Book several trips in advance with around 3-4 weeks between. Be patient. Do your due diligence. And remember if you find your ideal holiday home it wasn't luck you were in the right place at the right time... it's because you made it happen.
www.lavieimmo.com
Un sondage Drimki montre que les Français sont légèrement moins intéressés par l’achat immobilier en mars qu’en février. Mais ce niveau reste élevé. I ...The government has just authorised the purchasing of property remotely.
When signing a Compromis de Vente, each Notaire has their own set of rules for what they will allow. However for the final signing the rules are pretty strict on you being there to sign or power or attorney being sent under strict guidelines for being witnessed and if necessary translated.
New rules signed off by the government this weekend allow sales to be completed with a Notaire via video-conferencing. This means those buying from abroad can now complete remotely. The Notaire reads out the Acte as normal but via conference call. The buyer and seller then receive a form via email they fill in and send back. The key difference is then the Acte is signed ONLY by the Notaire, without the signatures of the buyer and seller.
Not all Notaires are happy, as every sale comes with a government gauranee of ownership covered by the insurance of the Notaire. If there are any problems then the recourse of the buyer is against the Notaire and not the seller. However you have the right to ask your Notaire to complete this way. According to the statistics, 40% of Notaire offices are equipped to sign in this way. If your Notaire is not prepared, then according to the article they are able to use the facilities of a fellow Notaire.
Immobilier: les actes de vente peuvent désormais être signés à distance
immobilier.lefigaro.fr
Le ministère de la Justice vient de publier un décret visant à accélérer la numérisation des actes de vente pour fluidifier un marché à l’arrêt.AirBnb is now banned in Nice.
The Mayor of Nice has now banned all AirBnb in Nice. Nobody will be allowed to visit Nice over Easter. Roadblocks are being set up on the motorways, to check drivers are only entering for "essential" journeys.
Remember the furore over those green "Linky" electricity meters that can spy on your energy consumption in real time? Well the government plans to work with Enedis to check on the usage on apartments classed as "second homes" to verify that they are left empty.
Not only are the Port and Promenade locked down and banned from even joggers, they now have another 80 officers handing out fines as well as drones patrolling the area to hunt people down.
Officials seems a little shy about releasing figures but it seems Nice doesn't really have a coronavirus problem so far. According to Nice Matin this weekend, the top medical guy Thierry Piche tells us there is no shortage of equipment or beds. The total deaths for the whole of the Alpes-Maritime region is 32 people. Despite the mayor himself catching the virus, he seems in pretty active.
However from the latest crackdown it seems the lockdown that was due to end mid April will inevitably be extended. As of yet, there appears to be no plan other than an indeterminate period of house arrest.
www.nicematin.com
Il décide donc de durcir certaines mesures: "A l’approche des vacances de Pâques et au regard des pics annoncés par les autorités sanitaires, je souhaite renforcer encore plus les dispositions a...Now the Mayor has announced nobody is allowed into the street unless they are wearing a face mask. Every citizen will be issued with a washable face mark in a weeks time, usable for up to one month, and anybody seen not wearing one will be punished. The Mayor recently had coronavirus. The physical effects are being well documented but I have not read anything about the effect on the mental faculties. www.nicematin.com/vie-locale/coronavirus-le-port-du-masque-bientot-obligatoire-a-nice-491830
Nice is now being locked down further, with various areas going under curfew as early as 8pm. The hours you are allowed to exercise are also being restricted, to before 12pm and between 6-8pm. Not only are the 80 police offers and drones being used to track people down but now over 600 surveillance cameras dotted around Nice will be used in a programme of mass surveillance. www.nicematin.com/faits-de-societe/relachement-dans-lair-couvre-feu-revu-masque-obligatoire-comme...
Presumably just for the duration of covid-19 measures. ?3 months
In case you are wondering where France stands regarding the lock-down and real estate, here is a summary. All estate agencies have been ordered closed as of two weeks ago, and they will remain closed until the extended period ends whenever that is.
Notaires are allowed to work but many are operating on a skeleton crew to minimise social contact. Appointments are by rendez-vous. Contact via email as the secretary will not be working and nobody will be picking up messages. Similar with the banks and Syndics. Many are not taking appointments and are internet contact only.
If you have any questions, please post them below.
I hope you and your family stay safe and healthy Phillip!
Than you for the update. In the UK, only pharmacies, grocery shops, banks, post offices open. All our local estate agents are closed. Take care, keep safe
Thanks! Stay safe!
Ikea will be opening right in the centre of Nice this summer! No, not the 24,000m² out of town mega store. That is still opening end of next year. This summer Ikea will be opening a smaller store of 300m² on Rue Paul Deroulade, just off Avenue Jean Medecin. It will sell kitchens and smaller apartment accessories. Enough to get your Ikea fix until next year. At the time of going to press, the meatball situation in the smaller premises is still unclear.
Ikea va ouvrir un magasin dès cet été dans le centre de Nice
www.nicematin.com
Dès cet été, les Niçois n’auront plus besoin d’aller à Toulon pour s’offrir une cuisine Ikea. Walter Kadnar, le PDG de la branche française du géant suédois du meuble, l'a annoncé ce me...Med In Heaven is featured in the property section of London's Metro newspaper. Pick up a copy on your way home!
After turning all the bus lanes in the city centre into cycle lanes, from next month the tunnel that runs between Rue du Congres and the Promenade des Anglais will be converted to bicycle only. The first bicycle tunnel in Nice! Motorists will still be able to turn both ways down the Promenade at the lights.
Ce tunnel de Nice sera exclusivement réservé aux cyclistes à partir de mars
www.nicematin.com
Estrosi mouille le maillot pour les cyclistes. Le tunnel du Congrès qui relie la rue du Congrès à la promenade des Anglais, deviendra "le premier de Nice 100% dédié aux vélos". Une annonce surpr...They've opened Cours Jacques Chirac, just behind the Cours Saleya, and it is very nice. Only the pub Van Diemens has a terrace out there so far, but as other bars and restaurants start to realise its potential it's going to become a cozy yet buzzing little street. A great addition to the Old Town of Nice.
How long does it take by the new tram from Place Garibaldi, next to the Port and Old Town, to the Alsace Lorraine tram stop on the far side of the Carré d'Or and Musicians Quarter?
One of my clients who bought an apartment right in the Square of Place Garibaldi wants a family member to buy "not too far away". I have a new property coming onto the market Monday on Boulevard Gambetta a short walk from the tram stop. It's a 2 bedroom apartment 74m² with 2 balconies, nice and quiet, plenty of French charm, and within his budget of "under €300,000".
From the moment I stepped onto the tram it took 4 minutes 40 seconds to step off the other end. So it really is five minutes away. I am interested in people's opinions. Would you buy a place twice the size with an extra bedroom 5 minutes by tram? Or a smaller one bedroom for the same price but a couple of minutes walk from the Square on foot?
Let me know in the comments below...
Since the tram has made distance a non-issue, for me it’s what neighborhood do you want to be in when you leave your apartment. That was my #1 priority (as you well know). Thanks again!
It has really opened up the whole area. If we were going to buy again we would definitely widen our search as the team is so easy.
Personally I would buy the smaller apartment near the square.
I would go for the two bedroom for a 5 minute tram ride!
Interesting, comments seem to side more with the smaller but closer apartment.
Location,location,location is the most important for me. So it would have to be the smaller apartment.
The most expensive villa in France has been bought by a Ukrainian coal magnat for a cool €200m. The villa "Les Cèdres" in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat is 1,600m² and was built in 1830. It has been in the family that created Grand Marnier for nearly 100 years. Before that it was owned by the Belgian king Léopold II. The new owner Rinat Akhmetov, who owns the football club Shakhtar Donetsk, also bought one of the most expensive apartments in the UK, at One Hyde Park, for £137m. The market for top end property is still healthy at the moment with the well-off looking to the security of property to park their wealth.
La villa la plus chère de France a été rachetée par un Ukrainien
immobilier.lefigaro.fr
C’est l’oligarque le plus riche d’Ukraine qui a acquis ce joyau de Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat pour un montant équivalant à 3% de sa fortune.The elections are underway for the new mayor of Nice, with Mr Estrosi unsurprisingly leading the race. What are his plans if he wins the next term? First is the demolition of the Acropolis conference centre and the National Theater to extend the Coulis Verte park!
This spectacular promise is one we can believe he will make happen, after the successful demolition of the bus station and central car park to make way for the park that has been universally acclaimed. It has transformed the space between the Old Town and the city centre, and the children play areas are packed from morning until night. That is if you can drag them away from the fountains during the summer months.
Where will the theater go? Into the Franciscan church that they just spent €1m restoring hidden away in Place St Francois. This will kill two birds with one stone.
This is a bold project and one I would like to see happen. The Acropolis does not win any awards for beauty, and the area around it is congested. By opening it up, it will allow gentrification of the area to spread east from Place Garibaldi, which has so far failed to happen. A great move from Mr Estrosi.
www.nicematin.com
L'occasion pour lui d'annoncer qu'il entend justement raser ce bâtiment pour prolonger la Promenade du Paillon vers le Nord. Pour permettre ce projet de "forêt urbaine", le Théâtre national de Nic...More AirBnb news. They are launching a service where a neighbour can complain about nuisance AirBnb guests. Just launched a few days ago in the USA, this features is soon to be launched in France.
You can go to the page "Airbnb et votre quartier" and register your complaint, which can be a noisy party or leaving rubbish in the common areas. They will then investigate, and if they determine nuisance then sanctions can be anything from a warning to the deletion of offending guest's account.
There will also be a hotline telephone number for more urgent interventions. AirBnb will allow owners to put in noise meters which can be installed to reassure your fellow residents that errant behavior in your apartment will be punished, with the stipulation by AirBnb that the detector can only measure noise levels and not record conversations.
Finally, if a repeat offender tries to book your apartment then you will receive a warning along with your booking that the guest could pose a "certain risk", though without any details for legal reasons.
The positive thing about this system is that the problematic guest will get punished, rather than the absent owner. However what is NOT mentioned is the ability for an owner to cut short the stay of a troublesome guest without penalty. How this would work could be an interesting discussion.
Airbnb déploie son arsenal pour lutter contre les voyageurs bruyants
www.mieuxvivre-votreargent.fr
Toute une série de mesures va être mise en place dans les prochains mois pour lutter contre les voyageurs bruyants et les nuisances.AirBnb is NOT an estate agency, is the final verdict of the European Court of Justice. The court case against AirBnb, brought by French hotels, was firmly squashed as the judge ruled that the popular web site was classed as "information society service" rather than providing estate agent services.
The hotels tried to use the 2017 ruling against Uber that classed it as a taxi firm rather than a simple service pairing drivers with passengers, as a precedent. However the courts ruled the case was not similar as AirBnb did not try and fix the prices on behalf of the owners, nor did they influence which homes they put up for rent or try and restrict them advertising their properties on other sites.
This is a major victory in many ways. The first is that the French real estate industry is heavily regulated. From the contract with the owner to the commission they can charge. Sales people need a minimum number of hours of training per year. The French government would have their whole business model firmly within their grasp, and have shown themselves not afraid to meddle (with disastrous results for the country over the past decade).
The second is that the kind of property they can advertise. At the moment an owner puts up a property "as is". Once an estate agent has it on their books, they need to ensure it conforms to local laws and regulations. They need to check it has a smoke detector, that electricity is up to code, and there are the minimum requirements for the kitchen and bathroom. This was one of the key objectives of the hotels as they saw AirBnb as "unfair competition" not having to comply with any of the health and safety rules that they do.
Finally a whole ancillary industry of "concierge services" has grown up around AirBnb, offering to manage the holiday rental of a property in exchange for a fee. The French real estate legislation was put in place 1970 and was based around sales, long term furnished rental, and long term unfurnished rental. Not much thought was given to holiday rentals. The recent services have existed in a bit of a grey zone where there is a grumbling that these companies should have a real estate license except there is no text obliging them to do so. This appears to put them firmly in the clear.
Round one has gone firmly in favour of AirBnb, and the freedom of owners. They have just put in place a restriction of 120 days if you mark it as your primary home, though we will see how long that lasts if they are no longer legally obliged to do so. Next court case is against being forced to register your property with the Town Hall but I believe we will not see a ruling on this until next November.
Airbnb is not an estate agent, EU court rules
www.bbc.com
Airbnb will not need an estate agent licence to operate as it is an "information society service".The new tram line is now fully open! On time, as expected. You can now go all the way from the airport to the sea port in under half an hour. When you take your first ride from end to end, please post what you think of the new underground stations below...
VIDÉOS. Ce qu'il faut retenir de l'arrivée du tramway sur le port de Nice
www.nicematin.com
3. Un réseau complet Ce n'était rien de moins que la 5e (!) inauguration du tramway en dix-huit mois, après le tronçon Cadam-Magnan (juin 2018), l'embranchement vers l'aéroport (décembre 2018), ...When you buy a property from a developer it comes with a set of guarantees called the "decenal" insurance. You get a decade of structural insurance and two years on plumbing, electricity and tiling.
Interesting court case result yesterday where an individual took the builders to court for substandard tiling. The judge ruled that aesthetics were not a good enough reason for compensation or the builder being forced to re-tile. If the tiles were loose, or jutting out that they impeded a drawer or a window then he would have a case. However "not straight enough" did not impede the function they were designed for.
Just something to bear in mind if you buy from a "marchand de biens" here in Nice off-plan.
Le carrelage n’a pas droit à une garantie décennale
immobilier.lefigaro.fr
Un client mécontent d’un carrelage mal posé pensait pouvoir invoquer la garantie décennale. La Justice lui a donné tort.Yet again mortgage rates hit a record low in France. The average mortgage rate now being given is 1.12%. The average length of a loan has edged up to an average of 19 years, which is considered long here unlike other countries. The LTV percentage has also increased.
Compared to 2012, the margin of profit the banks have added to the inter-banking rate has dropped from 1.7% to 0.8%. The government is keeping a stern eye on the liquidity of the banks and may take out measures to make getting a mortgage more restrictive to calm down the real estate market. Any recommendations will come out early next year.
Nouveau record pour les crédits immobiliers
immobilier.lefigaro.fr
FOCUS - La frénésie est bien réelle et les autorités publiques surveillent de près cette tendance.Nice Airport is to become the first in France with only electric buses to transport passengers between the planes and the terminals.
Why is this interesting? Between the railway and three new tram lines, only the bus remains on fossil fuels. Even the little white tourist trains have all been converted to electric. Bikes and electric cars can be cheaply rented all over the city.
The mayor is having all bus lanes removed from the city centre, you have seen posts on this already. All that remains is the no.8 bus running east-west along rue Buffa and the no.11 bus running the other direction along rue Marechal Joffre. If the airport buses are a success and supplement the no.8 and no.11, by next year Nice could become possibly the only city in the world with a 100% electric and carbon free integrated public transport network.
Now that would be some achievement.
C'est une première en France: l'aéroport de Nice se dote de navettes électriques
www.nicematin.com
L'aéroport de Nice, qui se targue d'être le premier de l'Hexagone à atteindre la neutralité carbone, vise le seuil de zéro émission de CO2 à l'horizon 2030. Et ce, en dépit des polémiques env...Brilliant! Then all the cars need to be Teslas ( like ours!)
Planes next....
After 43 years, the Tribunal of Administration has moved from Franke Pilatte to number 18 avenue des Fleurs. The new building, renovated at a cost of €3m, can be seen here:
www.google.com/maps/place/18+Av.+des+Fleurs,+06000+Nice/@43.6978288,7.2535164,3a,75y,349.13h,104....
Quite a difference from the beautiful sea facing villa in the Port. At least the staff will no longer be fighting over a south facing or corner office. Will this landmark be sold to investors? Turned into a museum? Its fate is yet to be decided. It certainly seems the interior should live up to the glamour of its beautiful exterior. We will have to wait and see.
Que va devenir cette villa d'exception inoccupée depuis un an à Nice?
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Il y a un an, presque jour pour jour, le tribunal administratif emménageait au 18, avenue des Fleurs, dans l’ex-bâtiment du Crous entièrement repris après plus de 3 millions d’euros de travaux...The new flower market on the Cours Saleya is open to the public and it looks great.
I am not sure if there are more stalls, or spread out around the square it just looks that way, but it really is an impressive display.
The flower market used to occupy the first section of the Cours Saleya which then gave way to the fruit and vegetable market. With the flower market settled in its new home, this means phase one of the renovation of the Cours Saleya can now take place. Clever.
By the time they have finished that, the passage Jacques Chirac will be complete and the restaurants can move their terraces behind the Cours Saleya whilst phase two takes place. Again very well planned. With the underground tram being completed and all the bus lanes being converted into cycle lanes over the next few months, Nice is on track for an incredible 2020.
Looks great. Can't wait to see it in person in a couple of weeks
The tram has completed its test runs all the way to the Port of Nice with success. Everything is on track for the entire tram line to be finished and launched on the 14th December.
You can see some videos in the link below. The tram will be travelling 70km/h between underground stops and you can really feel the difference after it surfaces at Magnan. The underground stops look unfinished, and the areas around the Port and Garibaldi stations are just commencing the resurfacing, so we are going to see a lot of activity over the next month and a half.
VIDÉOS. Le tramway arrive au port de Nice: les essais commencent, mise en service le 14 décembre
www.nicematin.com
L'inauguration, prévue le 14 décembre, marquera la fin d'un chantier débuté en 2013, et d'une mise en service en quatre temps: le 30 juin 2018 entre Magnan et le Cadam, le 17 décembre 2018 jusqu'...