Not sure I can answer this fully, retro., but I'll give you some bits I know of.
Point 1 is that the countryside has been more or less deserted by younger generations, this has all sorts of awful spin-offs - deserted houses and unsaleable properties being one of them. This applies at all levels. I remember our local small chateau (Brux) being up for sale. The owners stayed with me for B&B when they came down to try to piece it together and I visited them. The walls had cracks in that you could see though (about 3" wide in places). Prices seem cheap from here - but not from a French perspective. This all has a political spin-off in a country vs. metro stand-off, similar to that seen here. Virtually all my area voted either Communist or National Front (often 100% in communes). There is so much more - Napoleonic law makes children responsible for their parents' well-being - but the kids may be in Paris and old folks literally languish inside their hovels (many are) kept alive by visiting nurses and neighbours (I did, honestly, know some of these poor people).
Point 2 - most elderly country-property owners are only too anxious to move into a neat little bungalow on a lotissement (built by commune on the edge of the main village) and get rid of the slog of upkeep of property and land. It is hard slog, I'll confirm, and grassland is apt to be dug up by wild boar for example. They chucked the prices up for the Brits. and went off laughing to their cosy bungalows (paying for them plus a nice little nest-egg), leaving us with the holes in the wall, inadequate plumbing etc., which we all tackled with enthusiasm and pride, boosting the local economy in the process. They are very pragmatic and not at all sentimental.
That's enough for now, I'll probably think of more later and wish I'd rephrased etc. etc.. Hope it helps in your understanding. The thing is, people keep thinking that the French are like us, but with a different language and appealing way of life. To a certain extent this is true and I dearly love the friends I made, but they do NOT think in any way like us of come from the same viewpoints. This became more and more clear over the years and as my French became better and better. I used to think that I would understand them when I became fluent - but I just became more baffled by many thought processes. :) x