Paris: Expat Real Estate Boom
David A. Andelman © Forbes, with the author’s permission
(Published in June 2005 in Forbes )

There's a stunning new population trend in Paris--Parisians are selling their flats and moving out to the 'burbs. On the face of it, that's not truly astonishing. It's been happening in the U.S. since World War II ended. The stunning fact is to whom Parisians are selling these days. It's to Americans, especially older Americans. They're the ones who are buying and moving in--in droves.

Despite the cost--after all, the euro is just coming off all-time highs against the dollar--Paris has somehow managed to retain its magical qualities for a host of foreigners, but especially for Americans.

"Some 20 % of the sales in Paris are to non-resident foreign customers," says Adrian Leeds, an American in Paris who's been helping her countrymen make the leap across the pond for more than a decade. She has never been busier. "We have 27,000 readers of our e-mail newsletter Parler Paris. And the trend will only continue as long as mortgage rates remain low. And they are still below 3%."

To a certain extent Paris' appeal is obvious. In addition to the capital's world-class dining and largely inexpensive cultural attractions, such as the many museums where seniors (in France that's generally defined as over 60) receive discounts, France boasts inexpensive, widely-accessible transportation and one of the best health care systems on the planet.

Paris' subway, the Metro, offers half-price (demi-tarif) tickets to senior citizens who've had the foresight to obtain them at the Bureaux d'Aide Sociale (social aid bureaus) of the Mayor's office of each arrondissement in Paris. (The city is divided into 20 such areas, each with their own bureaucracy--an institution that the French have perfected to a fine science of frustration.) And hyper-efficient long-distance trains, which have special spaces to accommodate wheelchairs, make Paris an ideal base for exploring the rest of France and Western Europe, where seniors also receive half-priced fares.

There's also been a lot of progress in recent years in senior citizen access, according to Pascal Fonquernie, whose Web site, www.parismarais.com will soon be sporting a page especially for seniors. Most city buses now have special wheelchair areas and ramps that lower to the sidewalks, street corners have been ramped, and handicap parking spaces are starting to appear.

French health care is among the most accessible in the world and open to all residents. At least two insurance companies--Advantage Insurance Associates and European Benefits--offer affordable health and life insurance to Americans abroad. Moreover, if expatriates decide to enroll in the French social security system--and pay the brutally high taxes (see: "The Misery Index")--they receive full state-run health care which is among the most comprehensive in Europe.

At the moment, Paris' residential real estate market is a boon for everyone. Francophile Americans can buy a cozy corner in one of the world's most romantic cities for about what they'd pay for a Manhattan pied-a-tier. And the French who are looking to retire to the ever more congenial and less frenetic suburbs or countryside are seeing their property values rising at 14% or more a year and are happy to find willing buyers with hard cash--regardless of their nationality.

"The French sellers are walking away with a lot of bucks," says Leeds, "The French find the suburbs are becoming chic and gentrifying, and they can buy more property there for less money. They're happy to sell out."

So bring on the Americans. Leeds, who offers individual consultations to would-be immigrants for $290 for two hours, will hold her tenth day-long group conference in Paris on Aug. 10. As many as 50 would-be buyers show up in Paris for study under her able tutelage and that of other experts--in fields ranging from real estate to insurance--at a fee of 347 euros, or approximately $425.

Indeed, there seems to be no end of support groups and companies for older Americans who decide to take the plunge. At the top of the list is Aide Personnalisee Autonomie, or APA, which concerns itself with all disabled persons, and which has recently lifted all income requirements. Try two Web sites: www.esculape.com and www.apa.gouv.fr And www.agevillage.com contains a large data base of reference material on services available for the elderly (again, defined in France as over 60).

Once they arrive, older expats will find a substantial and growing elderly population. According to L'Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), the French statistics office in the Ministry of Economy, some 16.2% of the entire population was 65 or older as of January--up 1.4 percentage points over ten years ago (while the percentage of persons under 20 has fallen 1.2 points in the same period). Moreover, the numbers of deaths among the elderly--apart from a sharp spike during the catastrophic heat wave in the summer of 2003--has been falling regularly and is down this year by 8.5% over the average of the past four years.

Of course taking up permanent resident in France is not the only way to sample the French way of life in preparation for a possible retirement. A number of services, including www.parismarais.com, and many others, rent furnished Paris flats by the week or month. Conversely, the same services will help expatriate property-owners rent out their apartments for all or a substantial part of the year.

As Sabine Prouvost, spokeswoman for the French prime minister's secretariat for the aging, says, "Tout le monde est bienvenue en France."