Jun 07, 2006. /Lesprom Network/. The price of French forest land rose by only 1.6% in 2005, following eight consecutive years of strong growth, culminating in a record rise of 8.5% in 2004, Les Echos said. A total of 98 400 hectares of forest were sold in France last year, 8% less than in 2004. The average price of a hectare of forest, without any buildings, was Euro 4 440 last year. This has been attributed to the fact that the temporary exemption from the tax charged on the sale or donation of a property, which was introduced following the storms in December 1999 in order to protect the forest industry, ended on 31 December 2004. French forests are increasingly being valued in terms of their ecological and residential functions or their use in leisure activities such as hunting, rather than on the basis of the price of wood.