MAP: How much can you negotiate off a property purchase in France in 2025?
Chances of a successful offer vary considerably depending on the region
The average negotiating margin depends heavily on region and type of property, figures show
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Property buyers in France can negotiate an average reduction of 8.6% in sale price on a non-new build in France but there can be significant regional differences, new property advisor figures show.
In its latest barometer (December 2024), the IAD network of property advisors said that its average price drop after negotiations for non-new build houses was 8.6% in 2024. This figure has risen by 94% since mid-2022, the network said.
Nationally, the figures show:
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Purchasing power drop
It comes after the property market settled down somewhat following the Covid pandemic upheaval, but buyers still experienced a major loss in purchasing power due to soaring inflation and mortgage rates in the years afterwards.
“It took 18 months to explain to [sellers] that buyers had lost purchasing power [from 2022-2023],” said Yann Jehanno, chairman of the Laforêt agency network, to Capital.
Now, 90% of sales within the network are subject to price negotiation, compared to 60% in 2022, he said. The average discount from price negotiation reached 5.9% on average at Laforêt in 2024, he said, up 0.2% in a year.
The Century 21 agency network said its average negotiation margin was 7.1% last year, compared with 6.7% in 2023.
Similarly, Brice Cardi, head of L'Adresse agency network, stated that 93% of his agencies have seen an increase in negotiation margins in 2024, compared with 75% in 2023.
“Sellers who really want to sell…are increasingly aware of the need to accept slightly lower offers,” said Mr Cardi to Capital. He added that negotiation typically results in prices lowering by between 4% and 15% depending on factors including:
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Regional differences
However, IAD warned that these national averages may hide some significant regional differences.
For example it highlighted:
The negotiating margin on older flats is just 3.6% in Alsace
The margin is zero in Franche-Comté
The margin hovers around 12% in Auvergne, and Limousin.
The latter two examples are the only two regions nationwide where discounts of more than 10% may be possible, it said.
“Margins are highest in regions where prices are lowest,” it stated, explaining that because the regions of Auvergne, Limousin and Burgundy are “structurally narrow markets”, there are fewer buyers.
A combination of fewer buyers and lower purchasing power means that “sales very often require a revision of the prices shown” in the original property listings, the IAD said.
As expected, negotiating margins are lower in regions where prices are higher and there is more competition.
These regions include:
“The lower margins (for negotiation) reflect a shortage of properties for sale,” so markets in which there are many buyers, the IAD said. In these circumstances, sellers are more likely to wait for an improvement in the market before putting their property up for sale.
The IAD also highlighted that the increase in negotiation reductions has been slower since the start of 2024, due to the recovery of the property market and consequent increase in transactions.
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Sellers warned to keep prices ‘under control’ in 2025
Property transactions will pick up again in 2025, predicts Charles Marinakis, chairman of the Century 21 France network. He told Capital that he predicts there to be 850,000 transactions in the country over the next 12 months as interest rates continue to fall, compared with 780,000 in 2024.
This would mean an increase of between 2% and 3% in the price of existing homes this year, after a fall of almost 5% over the last two years, he said.
He said that the challenge will be for estate agents to “keep sellers’ asking prices under control”.
“If a seller notices that they now have three viewings of their property a week, compared with zero over the previous six months, they’re not going to want to lower their price any further,” he said.
