Paris apartment prices jump most in almost five years

[PARIS] The cost of purchasing a Parisian apartment rose for the third consecutive quarter, with prices jumping the most since the end of 2020.

Buyers paid 1.9 per cent more in the three months through September than a year earlier, with the increase accelerating from 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent in the two previous periods, according to data from French statistics agency Insee.

The figures published on Thursday (Nov 20) point to a pickup in apartment prices in the French capital after more than three years of declines that began in late 2021 following the Covid pandemic and as inflation started to soar.

Buying a home in the Ile-de-France region that surrounds Paris cost 0.4 per cent more than a year ago in the third quarter, the first increase since the end of 2022, according to Insee.

In the country’s second- and third-biggest cities, Marseille and Lyon, apartment prices rose 2.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively. This compared with a 1.3 per cent gain across France, or 0.7 per cent when including houses.

The number of transactions continued to grow in the 12 months through September, reaching 921,000, up from 907,000 in the year to June 30 and 882,000 in the period ended March 31. This measure has been rising since October 2024, after falling from April 2022, according to Insee. BLOOMBERG