According to the notaires, non-resident international buyers account for nearly 2% of all residential property sales in France.

In Paris, sales to international buyers have reached their highest level in 10 years, accounting for 4% of all sales.

However, the department with the highest number of sales to non-resident foreign buyers is Creuse, where 8% of all sales of existing property went abroad.

They were followed by Alpes-Maritimes (7%), Ardennes (7%), Dordogne (6%), Nièvre (6%), Charente (6%) and Haute-Savoie (6%).

The map below shows the percentage sales for all departments.

In the same study, the notaires examined the nationality of those buyers. British buyers have been dethroned as the principal buyers by the Belgians, who accounted for 19% of all sales to foreign buyers.

The decline in sales to British buyers has been taking place for many years, and is not an exclusively Brexit phenomenon.

Nevertheless, the British still remain the largest group in several regions, notably Nouvelle-Aquitaine where they accounted for 45% of all non-resident sales.

Top of the pile in the Ile-de-France are American buyers, accounting for 14% of all non-resident foreign buyer sales.

The map below shows the percentages by region.