New figures released by the Notaires de France (France's insurance association) show apartment prices across the provinces rose by 5.2% and houses 9.1% between Q3 2009 and Q4 2010.

These are encouraging figures demonstrating that unlike most of Europe France's property market has made a successful recovery from the global downturn and is on an upward trend.

Some key extracts from the Notaires de France January 2011 Report:

"In 2010, the property market gained momentum, month after month, both in terms of price and volume of sales, ending with a flourish in December."

"While the French Notariat is in the final stages of collecting the 2010 deeds of sale, the prices of property as a whole seem to have sharply increased."

"The overall market has returned to the 2000-2007 volumes increasing from over 590,000 sales in 2009 and almost 800,000 in 2010. The trend is mainly due to the fact that property investment seems a safer bet than investment in the financial markets."

The Notaires de France report predicts growth rates in 2011 of between 3% and 5% for property outside of Paris. Properties located in tourist hotspots in southern France are set to experience price increases of potentially double that.

What does this mean for property investors? As direct alternatives to UK pension products (many of which have performed disastrously of late), French leasebacks make a strong addition to an investor's portfolio.

Emerging Property's Sourcing Manager, James Harrington, comments, "Investor's have the added benefit of being able to enjoy their property with their friends and family whilst it grows in value."