IEIF France and European Property Prices: April 2011

One of the most interesting and damming bits of evidence that tipped many off to the existence of a significant real estate bubble during the early 2000s was the fact that dramatically increasing property prices were occurring in most industrialized nations.

The U.S., U.K., France, Ireland, most of continental Europe, Canada, Australia and elsewhere were all simultaneously experiencing significant property booms thereby thwarting, more or less, many of the “limited supply” and “Superstar Cities” arguments that sought to justify individual regions explosive appreciation.

Today we know that this massive boom in real estate was more a function of financialization and credit availability rather than fundamentals.

The latest data from the Institut de l'Epargne Immobilière et Foncière (IEIF), a French research and analysis firm, suggests that property prices in France and Europe increased during April rising roughly 25% above the level seen a year earlier.