Market Overview
Brittany, a peninsular region in western France with dramatic coastlines and ancient megaliths, has remained popular with foreign home buyers and is now seeing an influx of French buyers from larger cities, said Gilles Durin, the regional commercial director in Brittany for Patrice Besse.
“The interest in Brittany has not changed for foreign buyers, particularly the English, who have always appreciated it,” he said. “On the other hand, Brittany is attracting more and more French people. This one of the areas where prices have increased the most.”
A July report issued by the Notaires de France showed the median price per square meter of older apartments in Rennes, the capital of Brittany, increased by 8.7 percent in the first quarter of 2021 over the previous year, to 3,360 euros ($362 a square foot). The median sale price of older homes in Brest, the region’s second-largest city, increased by 10.3 percent to 204,000 euros ($236,660), according to the report.
“The pandemic has added further heat to an already hot property market in Brittany,” said Lisa Greene, the Grand-Ouest regional coordinator for the brokerage Leggett Immobilier. “Many French buyers wanted to move out of cities and acquire a home or holiday home in the countryside, plus the international demand did not abate. We actually sold many homes just from videos.”
Even if home prices are spiking in Brittany, they are still a bargain compared with some parts of France, including the Côte d’Azur, Perche, Sologne and any location within about 60 miles of a major city, Mr. Durin said.
“Brittany has become a ‘refuge region,’” he said. “The quality of life, good universities, proximity to Paris and the possibility of working remotely have been decisive. Above all, there is a climate that doesn’t make people fear global warming.”
