AT the risk of sounding smug - and making myself a hostage to fortune – it seems I sold out of London at the right time.

The French property market appears to be shrugging off the effects of the credit crunch rather better than Britain – so far.

Last week Halifax said UK prices were down 2.5% in March, the biggest fall since 1992, while estate agent VEF’s forecast for France is for growth of 6%-8%.

According to Matthew Weston at adviser Blevins Franks, the sub-prime crisis has had “little to no impact on the nonresident property market in France”.

And Simon Conn of Conti Financial Services advises clients to take out mortgages with French banks because they can find better deals.

One of my friends pays only 4.5%, but now you can expect to pay 5%-5.5% because French mortgage rates are based on inter-bank interest rates and these have been hit by the crunch.

Nevertheless, mortgage lending, which has been falling in Britain, increased 3.8% year-on-year in France in the last three months of 2007.

Tax breaks on French rental properties are also helping to support the market. Investors have the option of signing up to the uniquely French leaseback scheme, for example. With this scheme, set up to aid France’s tourism industry, you become a freehold owner and enter into a lease agreement with a management company. The properties involved are often new-build.

Most leases last for nine years, at which point they can generally be renewed. The guaranteed returns are usually between 3% and 6% of the purchase price and the government refunds the 19.6% TVA (the French equivalent of Vat) included in the cost.

You have to pay the mortgage and the local taxe foncière, but other bills are usually met by the management company.

If you want to use the property, say for three weeks a year, the rental income will shrink accordingly. It wasn’t an option for me, though, as I intend to live here for two-thirds of the year.

Figures also show that UK investors moved away from leaseback property in favour of traditional buy-to-lets last year, with lower taxes on new-build properties persuading a growing number to buy off plan.

The notaire’s fees that you pay when buying a property that is less than five years old in France are set at 2%, whereas you pay more like 7% to buy older ones.

Work on my own semi-new build is coming on fast. The terrace, facing the Grand Bec and Grande Casse mountains, is now in place and the interior has been divided into rooms as per the plans I worked out with my architect. Bernard, the owner of the estate agents overseeing the work on the flat, calls me in regularly to make choices about cupboards, lights and electricity points.

Spring is definitely in the air here in the Alps – even though it is still much colder than this time last year and it has been snowing in Courchevel 1850 over the last week.

The winter season is coming to an end and most people are winding down for the rather more “tranquille” summer months.

You do get tourists here in the summer, but not in the same numbers as during the ski season.

If you are buying to rent in France, finding a location where rental demand is high is crucial – whether that be from locals or tourists.

If you plan solely to let a property in France, it is best to do so over the longer term – say 10 or 15 years – as the taxes and costs of selling an investment property are up to 40%. You will therefore need time to recoup your costs.

Rental yields are reasonably consistent, though. In Paris, which along with the Côte d’Azur and the Alps is a safe bet for tourist rental, long-term rental agreements return about 6%, while short-term lets can have much higher yields.