Whether or not you believe French President Sarkozy’s claims about his tough regulation helping the country avoid the mortgage bubbles of Spain and the U.K., there are some things to like in France’s property sector. According to Knight Frank, a U.K. property investment firm, residential prices were up 2.8% last year, while Paris commercial properties have a vacancy rate of 5%, one of the lowest on the continent. While prices are expected to flatten and perhaps dip, it does not look like a market is primed for the sort of U.K.-, U.S.- or Spanish-style collapse, where properties disintegrate by double-digit values.

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