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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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• Paris 2000
  
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In the suburban areas of the capital city of Paris the residential properties can cost up to $2500* per sq.meter (1 sq.meter=10 sq.feet). In other suburban locations beyond the capital beltway the prices can go as low as $800-$1000 per sq.meter. In less prestigious locations within the central city areas the prices can reach $3500/sq.meter. In the most expensive areas apartments vary between $6000 and $10,000 per sq.meter. In general, an average 2BR apartment in the Paris suburbs can be bought for $100,000-$200,000. The same property costs up to $1,000,000 or more in the most prestigious central areas**.

In 1999, Paris was rated in 4th place among the most expensive cities in the world with the population of over 1 million (just behind Tokyo, Hong-Kong and London). In France itself the capital is rated on the 2nd position behind the much smaller Cannes where the residential properties can be sold for up to $25 000/sq.meter.

The annual rents in Paris vary between 4 and 5 percent of residential property prices. Thus an average 2BR apartment (between 800 and 1000 sq.feet) in the suburbs costing $100,000 can be rented for $350-$400 a month. The same apartment in less prestigious central city areas could be rented for $1200-$1500 a month. In the most expensive parts of the city the rents for such 2BR apartment will reach and even exceed $4000 per month.

Paris may be one of the most expensive big cities in the world, but given the average household income it becomes one of the most affordable in Western Europe. If in the capital of Spain Madrid the average residential real estate price exceeds 2.6 times the average annual household income and in the German city of Frankfurt this ratio is 8 times; in Paris, property price and annual income are almost equal.

The quantitative and qualitative improvements in living conditions (including residential real estate conditions) are considered as one of the priorities for every French government. It acts through the bank system that lends money for real estate buyers with smaller mortgages if they previously have created special bank accounts to cover their share (between 20 and 40 percent) of the buying costs. Further, an average French household can deduct up to $7600 from its annual income taxes for the mortgages paid in the same year.

In France in general, and in Paris in particular, it seems at first sight that the tenants have more rights towards their landlords than in many other European countries. According to the law of 1990 no one can be forced to leave a rented apartment or house before receiving enough money to cover its past rents. The courts can delay the cases initiated by landlords against their tenants up to 3 years before making a final decision.

Another breach to the pure market mechanisms in the relationships between landlords and tenants is the fact that 45 percent of all tenants receive some financial help from the state and/or local authorities. In reality all these measures are taken to benefit not the tenants, but their landlords. If the tenant can't afford to pay and can't find the money, it comes from the state coffers. When the landlords know that their tenants receive financial help from the state they are keen to increase the rents. These hidden forms of subsidies for the private sector only in Paris cost $500 million to the French tax payers.

* - Prices and rents presented in this article don't reflect the recent weeks collapse of the French Franc due to its fixed exchange rate mechanism with the EURO.

** - An additional $30,000 must be spent to buy a car space in an underground garage in the city center.

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See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of France.