The president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has unveiled a series of measures aimed at boosting the French property market.

New proposals include doubling the income threshold under which people can qualify for government guarantees on their mortgages, buying up 30,000 houses to bolster the construction industry and introducing interest-free loans to help people pay for energy-saving enhancements to their homes.

While most of these measures will not directly impact on investors they may help boost the French property market overall, maintaining longer-term stability.

Those keen to live in greener homes may also have an enhanced opportunity to buy one if the interest-free loans prompt more people to carry out such work.

While announcing these measures, Mr Sarkozy also said it was necessary for house prices to become more "attractive".

He commented: "A sector in which prices have doubled in ten years is a sector that was preparing a crisis for itself."

Last week French property specialist firm VEF said that prices in France are neither falling nor rising significantly at present.

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