Paris, an affordable dream

Today, some 875,000 property owners – including 850,000 co-owners – share the 1,300,000 flats that make up Paris’s 87,836 apartment blocks.

Rather astonishingly for an international capital with a two-thousand year old history, more than 60% of these apartment blocks were built in less than 60 years, between 1850 and 1910. This vision of Paris, dreamt up by Napoleon III, was realized by Baron Haussmann, the man responsible for bestowing upon our city the remarkable urban architectural unity that so amazes visitors: its wide, sun-drenched avenues, expansive views opening out onto famous monuments, and stone buildings in a range of pale ochre shades.

Approximately 40,000 flats are sold each year. Ninety-three per cent of purchases are made by Parisians or rural dwellers either as their primary residence (in 30% of cases only) or as an investment. 7% of purchasers come from abroad. In terms of value, their purchases represent far more than 7%, in fact accounting for nearly 20%, as they invest in the most highly sought-after districts. Every nationality has its geographical preference: the Italians like the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area, the Americans, the 7th district and the Russians the 16th.

As for the Japanese, their sights are mainly set on the Opéra district.

This edition, devoted to Paris, highlights the exclusive quality of these Parisian flats, flats that are envied the world over. After all, isn’t Paris the most visited city on the planet? Isn’t it the third most popular city amongst the international super-rich? However, despite this, compared to its “competitors,” – namely London, New York, Tokyo, Moscow and Shanghai – it is, by far, the most affordable city when it comes to real estate. Paris, in a manner of speaking, offers us the most beautiful dream… at the best price!