In the south Deux-Sevres, in the area roughly located inside the triangle formed by Poitiers, Niort, and Angouleme, a report has it that house prices are now down by "about thirty per cent" but, even so, "nothing is selling".

Real estate agencies, which had sprung up in the smaller communities in the boom years 2000-2006, are now closing up and moving out.

French banks, like the Credit Agricole, which have been burned in the Subprime crisis, are "no longer lending".

The report concluded, "there seems to be no end in sight"