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How to find the perfect property in Paris, whether you want to live in an apartment in Paris's city centre or find a house in the quieter Parisian suburbs.

Paris has the largest number of English-speaking expats in France. The cost of living in Paris is high but you get a lot for your euros in this upmost cosmopolitan city, with its tree-lined boulevards, bistros, markets, shops and world-famous landmarks. Find out where to buy a house in Paris to make the best investment for your needs while living in France's exciting captial.

Paris is still a good place to buy

While property prices in most of France have fallen over the past few years, homes in Paris have continued to rise (an incredible 37 percent since 2009) until now, according to financial news agency Bloomberg. As French president Fran ois Hollande introduces tax increases and cuts property subsidies, it looks as if property prices will fall and continue to fall in Paris. So while it might not be a great time to buy if you're looking for a quick return on your property, you might be able to bag yourself a bargain if you're lucky. Paris is always going to be a good place to buy property: "Prices in Paris won't collapse," says Bernard Cadeau, Chairman of Orpi, France's largest real estate agency "everybody in the world wants to buy in Paris." The scarcity of rented accommodation in the city means that you'll always be able to rent out your home.

How much are properties in Paris?

Property in Paris is sold (and priced) by the square metre. As a rough guide, an average one-bedroom apartment is about 30 square metres; something more palatial could be up to 500 square metres.

The sort of accommodation very often sought by richer expats well renovated apartments of 90 to 120 square metres, with a lift in an older building in one of the more favoured areas will cost in the region of EUR 12,000 to EUR 16, 000 per square metre. However, in gentrified area like the Buttes aux Cailles in the 13th, you could find a pied-a-terrein good condition for around EUR 150,000; and in less desirable areas further out, properties as low as EUR 6,000 per square metre. You might also find that sellers are willing to negotiate more than in previous years but don't bother offering way under the asking price.

Where to live in Paris?

If you're single or a couple without children then deciding where to live in Paris is probably a no brainer: you'll want to live in the city itself. But if you're coming to live here with your family, you might want to look outside the city limits, especially if you want to buy a house (although bear in mind that most bilingual/international schools will be in the city and immediate surroundings).

Living in the Parisian city

Paris is divided into 20 different neighbourhoods called arrondissements. each with its own number, character and special features. Starting right in the centre, the first is situated on the right bank of the Seine around the Louvre. Each successive arrondissement is located in a clockwise spiral direction around the city, rather like a snail shell, and numbered consecutively so the lowest numbers are the most central and the highest are the furthest out. For more information on each of the 20 arrondissements, see 'Where to live in Paris'. Unsurprisingly, the further away from the centre you go, the cheaper the property (although, like most cities, most districts in Paris have expensive and less expensive areas within them).

Almost all of the available accommodation in the centre of Paris is apartments because, with the exception of some grand h tels particuliers (townhouses), the older Parisian buildings were all originally designed as apartments and so are the newer builds. The newer blocks may not have the elegance and romance of the older, 19th-century, Haussmann-type buildings (parquet flooring, ironwork balconies marble fireplaces), but they often have the advantage of being better designed space-wise and having underground car parks. Though, with either option, you won't get much in the way of outside space, apart from a communal courtyard.

What can you buy in Paris's 20 arrondissements

1st arrondissement

What little residential property there is amongst the museums and theatres in this most central of arrondissements is extremely elegant think Rococo, Renaissance and Empire and expensive. For example, an elegant apartment near the Place Vendome or Tuileriescan costs well over EUR 13,000 per square metre, although something on a busy road above the shops of the rue de Rivoli will be cheaper at around EUR 11,000 per square metre.

2nd arrondissement

This tiny but diverse area contains the Paris Stock Exchange, wholesale shops and hidden bars and some pricey properties (over EUR 11,000 per square metre around the pedestrianised Montorgueil area or EUR 15,700 per square metre for a bijoux apartment on the rue L opold-Bellan) and cheaper, less charming places along the large boulevards north of the rue de Clery at around EUR 7,000 per square metre .

3rd and 4th arrondissements

This is where you'll find the fashionable, buzzy Marais, centre of the city's gay and Jewish communities, and the very sought after (expensive) Ile St Louis. Tall wooden doors hide elegant courtyards and mansion apartments: the older parts in the south are more expensive. A small apartment on the desirable rue Vieille-du-Temple may cost up to EUR 14,750 per square metre; a character' apartment in the area from the Hotel de Ville to St Paul will start at around EUR 10,800 per square metre. If this is too expensive, then look behind the Pompidou Centre or between Temple and the Place de le Republic for properties around EUR 8,500 per square metre. If you find an apartment needing renovation, you may be able to negotiate up to an 8 percent discount.

5th arrondissement

The Latin Quarter may be full of students, with cheap cafes and bars, but the chic apartments in beautiful buildings cost a packet: around the Sorbonne and Pantheon are upwards of EUR 11,200 per square metre. Prices are a lot cheaper round the Gared'Austerlitz. Look out for Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings in amongst the older properties.