According to luxury real estate agency Knight Frank, Paris is expected to lead global cities in terms of price increases, predicting a 7% rise. If you scan our analyses over the past four years, we called it. Importantly, Paris is not becoming unaffordable, because much of the price increases over the past three years are playing catch up with other major cities in the world.
2020 Paris Real Estate Report
We published “Paris Real Estate: The 7-Year Itch” in 2017, and in it we showed how Paris lagged most other big cities. In fact, Paris only caught up with former highs a few years ago. With Brexit and the possibility of more businesses and banks moving to locations such as Paris, we predict a continued rise in 2020 and beyond.
Knight Frank Predictions: Paris leads at +7%, followed by Berlin, Miami and Geneva.
Cost of Financing remains cheap in the Eurozone, adding to our confidence
Cost of Living in Paris is Still Affordable
Numeo published the 2020 Cost of Living Index in cities throughout the world. Paris ranked 24 on the list. Ahead of this affordable city, you’ll find four cities in Switzerland, three in Norway (we had no idea!) and a record eight of cities in the United States.
| Rank | City | Cost of Living Index | Rent Index | Cost of Living Plus Rent Index | Groceries Index | Restaurant Price Index | Local Purchasing Power Index |
| 1 | Zurich, Switzerland | 128.29 | 61.66 | 96.42 | 127.96 | 124.73 | 126.90 |
| 2 | Basel, Switzerland | 125.54 | 45.76 | 87.38 | 124.99 | 123.11 | 121.47 |
| 3 | Lausanne, Switzerland | 124.02 | 50.64 | 88.92 | 127.26 | 123.61 | 110.52 |
| 4 | Geneva, Switzerland | 118.98 | 68.47 | 94.82 | 112.88 | 119.58 | 111.16 |
| 5 | Bern, Switzerland | 116.03 | 40.52 | 79.91 | 107.58 | 115.56 | 131.89 |
| 6 | Stavanger, Norway | 102.27 | 36.10 | 70.62 | 90.99 | 112.45 | 87.58 |
| 7 | Oslo, Norway | 101.66 | 44.08 | 74.12 | 89.35 | 112.04 | 86.47 |
| 8 | Trondheim, Norway | 101.55 | 37.61 | 70.97 | 95.53 | 102.74 | 89.31 |
| 9 | Reykjavik, Iceland | 100.85 | 51.25 | 77.12 | 84.91 | 120.60 | 81.07 |
| 10 | Bergen, Norway | 100.17 | 35.25 | 69.12 | 88.41 | 111.56 | 94.06 |
| 11 | New York, NY, United States | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
| 12 | San Francisco, CA, United States | 91.51 | 115.58 | 103.02 | 86.91 | 94.45 | 135.90 |
| 13 | Anchorage, AK, United States | 91.36 | 38.94 | 66.29 | 88.42 | 78.89 | 118.44 |
| 14 | Honolulu, HI, United States | 89.70 | 63.03 | 76.94 | 89.83 | 83.60 | 88.29 |
| 15 | Brooklyn, NY, United States | 88.82 | 80.49 | 84.84 | 83.22 | 92.77 | 92.95 |
| 16 | Aalborg, Denmark | 88.40 | 24.20 | 57.69 | 75.30 | 103.05 | 115.92 |
| 17 | Washington, DC, United States | 87.74 | 78.18 | 83.17 | 86.44 | 87.48 | 130.25 |
| 18 | Tokyo, Japan | 86.87 | 38.00 | 63.50 | 83.42 | 56.70 | 89.70 |
| 19 | Oakland, CA, United States | 86.51 | 79.55 | 83.18 | 89.28 | 74.62 | 113.60 |
| 20 | Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel | 86.36 | 45.34 | 66.74 | 73.01 | 93.75 | 74.31 |
| 21 | Copenhagen, Denmark | 86.23 | 44.49 | 66.26 | 62.78 | 104.61 | 90.70 |
| 22 | Seattle, WA, United States | 85.77 | 65.70 | 76.17 | 81.69 | 81.25 | 133.43 |
| 23 | Seoul, South Korea | 85.50 | 30.45 | 59.17 | 103.69 | 45.88 | 76.81 |
| 24 | Paris, France | 85.16 | 46.98 | 66.90 | 78.98 | 81.35 | 71.17 |
| 25 | Luxembourg, Luxembourg | 83.71 | 55.85 | 70.38 | 69.53 | 92.44 | 106.31 |
| 26 | Boston, MA, United States | 82.88 | 74.47 | 78.86 | 81.23 | 81.85 | 112.39 |
| 27 | Bellevue, WA, United States | 82.18 | 63.24 | 73.12 | 76.86 | 76.62 | 163.27 |
| 28 | London, United Kingdom | 81.30 | 70.01 | 75.90 | 57.31 | 89.04 | 78.16 |
| 29 | Singapore, Singapore | 81.10 | 63.27 | 72.58 | 66.75 | 58.99 | 88.96 |
| 30 | Arhus, Denmark | 81.08 | 31.17 | 57.21 | 62.42 | 88.73 | 100.81 |
For non-French residents interested in buying an apartment in Paris, there’s an additional and important fact: extremely low interest rates. With the right qualifications, one can finance for less than 3% in France, and the running costs are among the lowest anywhere.
Paris Perfect Property Search Services
If you’re interested in buying your own Paris property we have eight great tips to help familiarize you with the French buying process. It’s not easy! And if you’re ready to start looking for that Parisian pied-à-terre, we can help through our property search services. Click here for more information. For more insight about the Paris real estate market, check out this recent article from The Wall Street Journal about why Americans are buying homes in Paris.
