From the Inside
Five years working in the French property market.
Here's what I saw.
How Do Real Estate Agents in France Value Properties?
Or: how do you know if something is a good price?
“Finger in the air” might be too harsh for some French property valuations, and too technical an explanation for others. The reality is that the French property market just works differently to say the US or UK markets, and valuations can be much more difficult.
Generally, in any market, the core principle behind property pricing is comparables. Similar types of property, in a similar location, that have recently sold. Here is where the problems start in France. Fewer property transactions means less sold price data is available, and there is also a considerable time lag between transactions and when that data becomes public.
I have seen people confidently post in Facebook groups that they’ve found the key to checking the price of properties you are looking at. What they’ve found is this:
https://app.dvf.etalab.gouv.fr/
This is where the French government publishes available sold property price data. There might be some interesting historical data if you look. Will you be able to see what the current owners paid for the house you’re interested in? Probably not. And if you can’t see what sold where in the last few months, it has little value for pricing purposes.
In terms of general trends, the notaires are the only people with access to all of the relevant data.
They release reports with their view of what is happening in the market. The broad picture is that after the pandemic there was, for France, something of a price bubble, so many people wanting to buy property in the countryside pushed prices up. Those prices have largely come back down, but some haven’t, because certain sellers formed an expectation of what they could achieve and haven’t let go of it. The notaires’ website also has English language content:
Any agent also has sales data from their own agency. Sometimes that means knowing exactly what a property in a particular place is worth because you have direct recent comparables. However, if the agency has no listings in a given village or town, they are in the same position as every buyer. There is no single place where all current properties for sale are listed. They too have to search through multiple online aggregator sites to find similar properties.
Another metric you see used quite often is price per square metre (m2). Outside of big cities and apartments, this measure has very little value. Should a 400-year-old former watermill of 150m2 be valued the same as a 1970s bungalow of 150m2 in the same town? Probably not. If you are comparing two 100m2 apartments in a similar area of a big city the metric has more meaning. In fact, French law requires the accurate calculation of liveable m2 in larger towns and cities, but not in smaller towns and villages. Where properties are listed with multiple agencies you will often see different m2 figures given for the same property.
The other variable all agents have to deal with is seller expectation. Every owner knows what they paid, how much they have spent, and what they would like or need for their next move. Managing that expectation while also winning new mandates can be a real challenge. There are sellers with unrealistic expectations in every market, but where more data exists and all properties are listed in one place, it is easier to demonstrate why a price might be excessive. Many non-French owners are also accustomed to price appreciation in their home country. The French property market is generally slow and flat. If someone spends €300k on a property and another €100k renovating it, it is almost certainly not worth €400k. That is simply how the French market works.
At the same time, if an agent wants a particular mandate badly enough, they might list it above what they think it is worth and hope to negotiate down the line. If a chateau owner believes their property should list at €3.5m but you think €2.5m is more realistic, you might still take the mandate at €3.5m.True story, and no, it hasn’t sold yet.
Does the foreign buyer premium exist? Many French sellers believe it does, and that they will achieve the best price by listing with an English-speaking international agency. That does not mean all such properties are overpriced, or that all French sellers are targeting the foreign market. It is something to be aware of as you look through listings and attend viewings.
Another resource some agents use is:
https://www.meilleursagents.com/
Enter the address and some basic details about the property including its condition, and this website will give you a range of estimated values. I often find it a little on the high side, but it can offer a useful sense check on a property you are considering.
I am not saying that all listed prices in France are inflated or unreliable. I am just explaining a little of what lies beneath them. Yes, agents need listings. But most agents in France are on 100% commission, they also need to sell those listings to survive. What you may find is that many properties are more negotiable than you would expect based on your experience in your home country.
In your home country, agents might send you listings above your stated budget to push you to spend more. In France, if an agent suggests something above your budget it may be because they know the property is negotiable to within it. I would always look a little higher than your budget, as much as 20-25% above your maximum.
French real estate agents have contracts with sellers, not buyers. Their job is to sell the property, ideally for the best price. Sometimes that means convincing a seller to accept your offer because they genuinely believe it is fair. But if you make an offer and the agent knows the seller would accept less, they are not going to tell you. You have not hired them to get you the best price. In the US you might have a buyer’s agent working on your behalf, negotiating with the listing agent. In the UK the agent works for the seller, but pricing is more transparent because everything is listed in one place and you can see clearly how long something has been on the market. It is one of the reasons I am now truly independent, if you hire me, I work only for you.
The first property I bought in France sold for less than 50% of its listed price. That is not normal, but it shows what is possible when you understand how the market actually works. Before you make an offer, make sure you are asking the right questions: