While many aspects of the French economy have been the subject of deep concern in recent years as unemployment has stayed high and productivity has lagged behind countries such as Britain and Ireland, the property market there has emerged as one of the top performers around in recent months.

For those whose French property investment ambitions are focused on getting the best deals in growing markets, the French scene represents a rare beacon of success among the established countries. According to French Property Magazine, this year will see house prices rise by between six and eight per cent. Few, if any, would dare to forecast anything like that in Britain, the US, Spain or Ireland.

Leapfrog Properties, a property firm operating in the market, has said there are three reasons why the French market is bucking the trend which is so prominent elsewhere.

Firstly, explained managing director Nick Dowlatshahi, prices have not spent the recent past rising to a peak where a clear correction is due. He stated: "Property prices in France are only about two-thirds of what they are in the UK, with very similar buying power."

Such a factor is not lost on those marketing homes across the channel. VEF stated last week that a house in Brittany in the north-west of France was on average 30 per cent cheaper than one in the north-west of England, while one in the south-east (Provence) was similarly less expensive than a home in the south-east. In Limousin in the centre of France, a property would be 53 per cent less than in the English midlands.

These variations clearly provide one incentive for buyers of various kinds, including people who might, for instance, live in the north of France and commute by Eurostar to work in London. But there is more.

Since coming to office last year, President Sarkozy has pledged to make France a nation of homeowners. Mr Dowlatshahi noted that he had already implemented two tax changes which encourage homewnership, saying: "Sarkozy is bringing in lots of tax reforms, making it much more interesting to invest in property than to rent, with various tax breaks such as that your mortgage interest payments are offset against your income tax. He's also making inheritance tax a lot cheaper." Changes like this were likely to generate "a fair bit of optimism", he added.

But above all that, the fact that the French financial system was not as exposed to the subprime fiasco in the US as Britain and other western countries is a major reason why the wheels of the market are still turning, Mr Dowlatshahi stated.

"They've [French banks] had little of the effect of the credit crunch as opposed to the UK. They will continue to lend at 100 per cent and so on, there's no change in their lending capacity basically," he stated.

So while much of the western world waits for the credit crunch to work its way through the system and the elusive sparks of confidence to relight the fire that burned so brightly until last year, France offers a property prospect that many investors will be keen to make the most of.

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