French Limousin "the new Provence"

The still largely undiscovered French province of Limousin is experiencing an influx of British property buyers and is set to become "the new Provence", national newspaper Le Monde has predicted.

And despite the invasion of Brits and inevitable interest in the property market, Limousin remains France's cheapest province. Reports in the Sunday Times found that buyers could snap up a beautiful three-bedroom house with a garden for just £80,000 – a fraction of the price of other regions. A farmhouse with some land could also be yours for a mere £135,000 in the southern region.

But all this could be set to change as new access to the region is predicted to bring in thousands more property hunters for the same opportunities. Investors are being advised to snap up the best pick quickly. Already, there are 14 flights a week from Britain to the region, and Ryanair predicts that by 2006, up to 300,000 Brits will be using the route. Furthermore, the airline estimates that up to one in ten of them will be looking to buy property.

Another new airport at Brive in the southern Limousin region of Corrèze is also set to be opened in 2007, say local officials, and it is probable that one of the low-cost airlines will soon pick up the destination on its network. With such potential for growth, investment in the city could pay off, as the city's old church, cobbled streets and café scene are just the kind of things that will attract tourists and holiday makers.

"Everybody is after the same thing," Melanie van der Meer, an estate agent with the Vallée de la Dordogne agency based in Argentat told the Sunday Times. "The Brits all want a property that is old stone and isolated. I try to explain that even if the property is on a road, it's unlikely there'll be many cars going past."

Anthony Jones of ABC Immobilier also told the paper that prices are really on the rise: "A small property to renovate in the Haute-Vienne or the Creuse that would have cost you between £10,000 and £15,000 four years ago will now cost between £30,000 and £45,000," he said. "It's simple supply and demand."

Rising values have priced many Brits out of buying property in France in the past few years, but with interest rates almost half those in the UK, and French demand drawing back because of economic woes, buying now could reap a big profit in years to come.