Market Report: Business... Just Not Quite As Usual!

We may be restricted by a pandemic but you can still view, research and even buy French properties, says Ruth Wood, so keep calm and carry on househunting!

- Ruth Wood

Bored teenagers aren’t usually called upon to show house-hunters around homes. But that’s just one of the ideas that Normandy estate agent Suzanne JenkinsPearce suggested recently to clients trying to market their properties during the coronavirus pandemic. With physical viewing appointments impossible due to strict lockdowns in both France and the UK, she has been reaching out to her vendors on social media. “If you have bored teenagers at home why not ask them to make a video tour of your house to assist with virtual viewings while buyers are not able to come and view properties themselves?” she wrote on the Facebook page of her agency Suzanne in France.

It just goes to show we are living through extraordinary times. As we go to press, France is 19 days into a strict lockdown requiring people to stay at home for all but essential outings, and this ‘confinement’ has been extended to at least 15 April. The UK too is in lockdown and all but essential travel to France is prohibited for the time being.

THE NEW NORMAL

The good news is that the vast majority of estate agencies and other specialists that help Brits buy property in France are operational. They may be working from home and have cats walking across their keyboards but they are still talking to clients by phone, email, social media and video chat via apps such as Zoom, FaceTime and Whatsapp.

“Enquiries are coming in and our sales team is busy calling buyers and answering questions about properties and life in France,” says Julie Savill, of Beaux Villages Immobilier which has branches across France. “We are all still adjusting to this ‘new normal’ but it won’t be forever and the more we comply, the sooner restrictions will be lifted.”