France will continue to offer "excellent deals" for investors

Property investors were able to get some "excellent deals" in France last year and this trend is likely to continue throughout 2010.

According to Nick Dowlatshahi, managing director at Leapfrog Properties, the trend of investors buying into more stable economies such as France helped boost sales.

Mr Dowlatshahi recommended that potential purchasers bypass new developments and look to year-old sites in order to pick up a bargain, with developers slashing prices to pay back bank loans.

"2009 was a very good year for people buying French property; not the holiday home buyers or people moving to France, but pure investors who were after some discounted deals from developers," he noted.

"A lot of investors switched from other more unstable countries to France because of the discounts and because of the stability."

He added that the country offered investors plenty of potential, with opportunities for investment nationwide.

International Property Magazine recently placed France at the top of its Quality of Life Index for the fifth year in a row.