Covesta
FREN
Back to articles
Wealth5 min read

Property and inflation: does bricks and mortar really protect you?

Inflation silently erodes your savings. Between 2000 and 2025, the purchasing power of the euro fell by 35%. Property, meanwhile, almost doubled. The calculation is beyond dispute for those who keep their savings in savings accounts.

Covesta

Co-founder, Finance and Strategy

ShareLinkedIn

Inflation is an invisible tax. Nobody takes money from you, but the money you have is worth less tomorrow than today. Over 25 years, this cumulative effect becomes massive.

Chart

Comparative change 2000-2025

Base 100 = 2000. Existing-home price index (INSEE) vs cumulative inflation (harmonised CPI) vs Livret A savings account.

Source: INSEE · Notaires-INSEE indices, HICP, Livret A rate

+115%

Property prices 2000-2025

INSEE

+52%

Cumulative inflation 2000-2025

HICP

+68%

Livret A with compound interest 2000-2025

Net of inflation: only +11%

× 1.42

Purchasing power of property

vs Livret A over the period

Beyond the appreciation of the property itself, RENTS are indexed to the IRL (Indice de Référence des Loyers, the French rent reference index), which is itself correlated with inflation. Your rental income therefore rises in step with prices. It is a double protection.

Read next

Our other analyses

Wealth

French nationals abroad: why (and how) to invest in property in France

Close to 2.5 million French people live outside our borders. For them, buy-to-let property in France remains the most solid investment: assets in euros, the leverage of credit and an income to prepare for their return. Here is how to invest, even thousands of kilometres away.

Read the articleWealth

Funding your own retirement through property: why act now

French demographics are turning: fewer workers, more pensioners. The pay-as-you-go system alone will no longer be enough to maintain your standard of living. Buy-to-let property is today the most effective lever for building a funded retirement of your own.

Read the articleMarket

2027 presidential election: what risks and what opportunities for the property investor?

Six months before the first round, the property market is already moving to the rhythm of the election: government borrowing rates at their highest since 2002, an uncertain 2027 budget, one buyer in three waiting for the result. Without going into the manifestos, here is what can really shift, and the cards to play before the vote.

Read the article
Previous

Regional property markets: where to invest in 2026?

Next

Property financing in 2026: lending criteria and optimisation strategies