Why is Paris So Expensive? An In-Depth Look at the Forces Squeezing Out Young Professionals
Paris has developed a global reputation as one of the most expensive cities in the world. While it offers abundant culture, history, cuisine, art and entertainment, such urban delights come at a steep price. Paris frequently ranks at the very top for cost of living, real estate prices, and staggeringly high price tags for everything from a basic café au lait to haute couture gowns.
This poses a major dilemma for young professionals hoping to put down roots in the City of Lights early in their careers. While French tech hubs and startups beckon with job prospects, actually managing to live comfortably amid the famously luxe urban landscape has become an extreme challenge.
So why exactly has Paris become so difficult for young workers to gain an affordable foothold within? Experts point to a perfect storm squeezing middle income residents – with global wealth concentration and foreign speculation compounding housing shortages initially created by strict zoning policies and historic preservation efforts. Let’s take a deeper look at the key factors pricing out young professionals.
Housing Scarcity Compounds Cost of Living Woes
At the core of Paris’ astronomical rents and property prices is a long brewing imbalance between housing supply and demand. Government estimates gauge Paris short roughly 70,000 homes based on population levels and growth rates, though some experts put the housing deficit even higher. Such severely strained inventories translate directly into sky-high real estate values averaging over €10,000 per square meter (around $10,700).
To put those property rates into perspective, a tiny 350 square foot studio sized apartment currently sells for well over €500,000 (approx $530,000) on average. Such figures would equate to around a $1500 per square foot sales price – pricing out all but the top income brackets absent generational wealth or extreme compromises on living standards.
Rising prices hit young professionals especially hard given most lack established savings or equity from previous home sales to afford costly Paris down payments. And incidental expenses from utilities to groceries to transit can strain professionals early in their careers.
Urban planner Maurice Bernard notes the clear disconnect: “Salaries even among highly skilled occupations don’t align with what housing costs relative to disposable income.” Even dual income households bringing in around France’s median annual salary of $37,000 per partner indicate most of their earnings would go purely towards housing costs alone at current market rates.
Building Height Caps Prevent Vertical Expansion
With housing inventory so severely short of demand, why doesn’t Paris simply build more skyscrapers as other global cities like New York, Hong Kong and Singapore have done? Well that brings us to a regulatory root cause of the supply-demand mismatch – strict building height restrictions dating back over a century.
Since the 1960’s, construction codes have essentially capped building heights at 7 stories or roughly 90 feet tall across most central districts. And even tighter caps surround historic landmarks and neighborhoods seeking to preserve iconic aesthetic appeal.
These stringent vertical limitations trace back to sweeping mid-19th century urban plans spearheaded under Napoleon III by his controversial city architect Baron Haussmann. In the name of modernization and aesthetics, entire medieval districts were razed to create the signature Parisian boulevards still prominent today lined with elegant limestone apartment buildings capped at 6 stories by law.
Critics argue such aggressive height restrictions severely throttle housing unit potential relative to population levels and spatial needs in the modern economy. As economist Loretta Martines notes: “prioritizing preservation has created a beautiful time capsule but with severe costs in accommodation capacity.” Essentially the supply-demand imbalance and its inflationary impacts were cemented through policy decisions made nearly two centuries ago.
And the narrow building footprints required along Parisian streets further limit density potential absent vertical scale. Attempts to challenge height restrictions frequently run into NIMBYism – “not in my backyard" opposition from local homeowners wishing to keep neighborhoods frozen in amber. But at the same time homeless rates have risen steadily while over 15,000 Parisians wait indefinitely for social housing amid near zero vacancy rates.
Global Wealth Concentration Distorts Housing Market
On top of supply shortages, demand for Paris housing gets further amplified by enormous global wealth chasing limited housing inventory. Paris counts over 5,000 millionaires and several dozen billionaires as residents. And greater France itself minted 42,000 new millionaires just in 2019 according to Credit Suisse Research Institute figures.
The resulting distortions play out via intense bidding wars when apartments hit the market while luxury developers keep shattering price per square foot records. For instance in ultra-prestigious districts like the Triangle D’Or where Avenue Montaigne meets the Champs Elysées median prices now approach an incredible $50,000 per square meter ($4,645 per square foot). This positions Paris as the world’s priciest luxury housing market exceeding comparable prime zones of London, New York, Hong Kong or Monaco.
Critics argue much of the luxury housing boom caters not to Parisians but rather global wealth seeing French assets as safe, stable investments and status symbols. By some estimates nearly 40% of buyers of new high end apartments hail from overseas – acquiring pieds-à-terre more than primary dwellings. And the ultra luxury sector shows little signs of slowing down with developers continuing to break their own price per square foot records.
All this weighs heavily on middle income locals crossing their fingers apartment hunts yield any results before leases expire. Urban families not benefiting from generational wealth pass on relate stories of frustrating searches before reluctantly moving to outlying suburbs and resigning themselves to long commutes.
Retail Rents Skyrocket Along Prime Tourist Corridors
Lastly the influx of vast wealth concentrates not just in housing but increasingly in consumption too. Despite turbulent times for much of global retail, extremely prestigious Parisian shopping districts continue experiencing meteoric rent increases in tune with ever rising luxury sales.
Ground floor retail zones along avenues near top tourist attractions have seen truly staggering rent inflation in recent decades. Average annual rents along the luxury mecca stretch of Avenue Montaigne for instance nearly quadrupled from under €6,000 per square meter in 1997 to over €22,000 presently.
Nearby on the renowned Champs Elysées rents practically doubled between 2008 and 2018 soaring from €12,000 sq meter to €24,000 on average presently. The famous Place Vendome framed by the Ritz Hotel and storied jewelry Maisons commands Paris’ highest ground floor rents now exceeding €30,000 annually per square meter.
According to commercial agent firm Savills associate director Francis Carlier: “Consistently heavy pedestrian traffic and tremendous tourism flows translate into ever rising rents.” Luxury retailers highlight how sales and prices rise in lockstep given wealthy visitors stampede stores when docking river cruises along the Seine.
Boutiques highlight evolving clientele, with Chinese shoppers now mixing with Arab oil money and American tech wealth. And upstairs office spaces also fetch premium rates from luxury brands maintaining Paris bases.
No Signs of Cooling Ardor for Parisian Assets
For now little relief exists arguing rent or housing prices could possibly revert to affordable levels for average citizens given deeply entrenched supply bottlenecks. And demand looks set to rise amid sturdy French economy growth plus huge pending intergenerational wealth transfers.
Greater Paris lawmakers recently pledged accelerating affordable housing additions. But developers complain rising taxes and stricter regulations make cost recovery impossible on middle tier projects. They instead continue catering projects ever more narrowly towards wealthier investors and second home purchasers.
Critics also argue luxury players appear in no rush to curb foreign buyers even with prices rising beyond reason locally. As wealth advisor Jean Dubois highlights: “Economic forces will continue to play out what many view as reasonable ultimately – Paris largely remains playground for global rich.”
So while the City of Lights will endure as a beacon for culture, fashion and art – calling it home may sadly exclude more people that don’t directly benefit from its appeal to the world’s billionaires. At least for young professionals, making a go of it in Paris requires either tremendous luck, compromise or patience until inheritance assets transfer hands in coming decades.