French Investors Reassess amid Market Pressures
The latest MSCI French Real Estate Investor Barometer shows the share of investors planning to cut their real-estate allocation has doubled compared to the previous edition in December 2025. The June survey showed that 46% of respondents expected reductions in their exposure to real estate relative to equities and bonds, and 58% planned to increase property disposals. This is the most seller-oriented reading in three years.
The changing assessment of opportunities in French real estate comes amid rate hikes by the European Central Bank in June and September, with the possibility of more to come before year-end, raising the cost of borrowing for investors.
MSCI transaction data for the first half of 2026 is consistent with this more pessimistic outlook. Investment volume in France totaled EUR 10 billion (USD 12 billion), down 11% from a year earlier and 31% lower than the 2016-2025 average. Survey respondents pushed the prospect of a market recovery into 2027.
Paris offices fell out of favor in the survey. The segment was not in the list of top three preferred property types for the first time in over four survey editions; national logistics, hotel and apartment constituted the top three. Paris office investment volume tracked by MSCI was around half the long-term average in the first half of 2026. Additionally, respondents expect that prime office yields will increase from current levels.
Among alternatives, managed residential (co-living, student, senior housing) remained the favored sector for investment over the next five years, followed by data centers and self storage, while life science has dropped off the radar.
The survey results together point to a market with a rebound on pause, and a potential shuffling of the property types targeted for investment.
Change relative to equities and bonds. MSCI 39e Baromètre de l’investissement immobilier français, in partnership with BPCE solutions immobilières, June 2026. Investors responding to the June survey manage more than EUR 300 billion in real-estate assets.estate assets.
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