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Paris property prices gone mad? €50,000 for 3m² 'loft'

The Local France
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Paris property prices gone mad? €50,000 for 3m² 'loft'
Ile Saint Louis. Photo: AFP

A 3m2 "loft" in the prestigious Île Saint-Louis in the centre of the capital has been advertised on sale for €50,000. No, this is not a joke.

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The Ile Saint Louis is famously chic, expensive, and a huge hit with tourists. 

And now, you could call it home for just €50,000. But the catch - and it's a big one - is that the "loft", or big box as should really be described, is just three metres squared.
 
So that's an unbelievable €16,600 per square metre. While you won't have to pay agency fees apparently potential buyers have been that it needs a makeover.
 
Although it's advertised as a loft, the property, if we can call it that, is actually on the ground floor.
 
The square metre cost puts the property among the crème de la crème of property on the island, where prices range from €12,389 and €16,505, according to the site Meilleurs Agents. 
 
 
The property overlooks the quaint courtyard of a seventeenth century building, however its one very small window may make that somewhat difficult to appreciate.
 
What it lacks in width and length, however, it makes up in height, with four-metre high giving it a total volume of 12 cubic metres. 
 
In theory it can't be bought to be rented out, given a law in France that states the minimum size for an apartment for rent must be nine square metres. However that has not stopped rogue landlords in the past.
 
In 2013 The Local covered the story  of a tenant who lived for 15 years in a 1.56-square-metre flat, for €330 a month. (see photo below)
 
'Scandalous' case of man living in 1.56m² Paris flat
 
The estate agency "District" told Le Monde newspaper that they do agree the price is "a little excessive", but said they are not the only ones to offer this sort of property. 
 
The advert, published on the Immostreet site on Thursday, is no longer available. 
 
However, this is by no means the only example of a ridiculously small space selling for a ridiculous amount of money. 
 
Other “micro-rooms” on the market for extremely high prices are advertised on similar sites. 
 
A micro-room of five square metres in the 11th arrondissement is going for €35,000 on Explorimmo, whilst a very exact 4.21 square metres room situated on the fifth floor of a lift-less building in the 18th arrondissement costs €37,000. 
 
Another room measuring seven square metres with a skylight in the chic 17th arrondissement is selling for €49,000 and somehow manages to include both a toilet and kitchenette. 
 
According to Numbeo, the average price per square metre for an apartment in the city centre of Paris is €9,768.96 as of May 2016.
 
By Marianna Spring

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