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IN PICTURES: The five places in France with the highest percentage of second homes

The Local France
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IN PICTURES: The five places in France with the highest percentage of second homes
Do you dream of a second home somewhere sunny and French? Photo: wavebreak media/Depositphotos

France has more second homes than any other European country, and there are a lot of places where a majority of properties are only inhabited for part of the year. Here's a look at five spots with the highest percentage of maisons secondaires.

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France has 3.3 million second homes, representing 10 percent of the country's housing stock. 
 
That's four times more than Germany, and over the past five years, the buying of second homes in France has gone up 1.7 percent.
 
And it means that some of France's small, rural areas have far more temporary residents than permanent ones. 
 
Here's a look at five places in France with the highest percentage of second home owners in France, according to Le Telegramme
 
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Uvernet-Fours
 
The tiny town of Uvernet-Fours in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France is so popular with second home owners that a whopping 92.3 percent of the properties there are owned by them. 
 
Photo:  Sébastien Thébault/Wikicommons
 
 
Orcières
 
Another small town in southeastern France, Orcières is located in the Hautes-Alpes department. A total of 90.5 percent of properties here are second homes. 
 
Photo: Nirv75/Wikicommons
 
La Fajolle
 
Still in the south of France but this time in the Aude department of the Occitanie region, La Fajolle is a beautiful spot to drink a cool glass of white wine during your summer holiday. But it's more than likely you'll be surrounded by others who have had the same idea, with 92 percent of the properties here owned by second home owners. 
 
 

Photo: CartesFrance.fr
 
La Faute-sur-Mer
 
It isn't only the south of France which is popular with second home owners, of course. The west of the country also has a high number of temporary residents during the summer season. 
 
A total of 85.2 percent of properties in La Faute-sur-Mer, a coastal town in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region, are second homes.
 
Photo: Pantoine/Wikicommons
 
Vars
 
Nevertheless southern France does dominate, with Vars, a town in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France dominated be second homes, which make up a total of 91.5 percent of the properties. 
 
Vars is famous for its ski resort and benefits from good weather in the summer. 
 
Photo: Gargantua/Wikicommons
 
However, not everywhere in France is in such high demand, which means there are bargains to be had. 
 
The Indre-et-Loire department in west-central France has next to no second homes and the nearby department of Loiret is similarly unpopular with second home owners. Who needs the sunshine when you can have peace and quiet?

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