MAP: see where house prices are rising and falling around France

Both property prices and the number of sales have continued to fall across many areas of France, newly released notaire data shows, although some cities are starting to buck the trend. 

The number of properties sold in the 12 months prior to February 2024 was the lowest in almost a decade, and the year-on-year drop in volume reached record figures.

These are some of the findings shown in the latest data released by notaires, who compile the most comprehensive information on the French property market as they are involved in every sale.

The information covers all sales of non-new build houses and flats (older than five years) in France. The figures look in detail at data up to December 2023 (this data always takes several months to compile).

It also has data on overall home sales covering the period up to February 2024, and predictions for the market based on preliminary data up until May 2024 are also included.

Is the property sale slump soon to be over?

The number of properties sold between February 2023 and February 2024 was 835,000, with this year-on-year number continuing to fall since the height of the Covid pandemic, when it peaked at over 1.2 million in August 2021. 

The drop in the number of property sales between February 2022 - February 2023 and February 2023 - 2024 was 23%. 

This is the highest year-on-year drop ever recorded by notaires and slightly higher than in the previous set of data (covering up to November 2023). 

Notaires have observed through preliminary first-signature sales data up to May 2024 that a spring ‘peak’ in activity (usually the high-point of estate agent activity) has returned.

This flurry of activity was absent in 2023, which led in part to the severe drop in property sales. It is unlikely the market will fully recover this year but it is showing promising signs that a bounce back is underway. 

Read more: How much can property buyers in France negotiate down prices in 2024?

Property prices are still falling – but slower 

In general, property prices have continued to fall across the board, alongside sales, although again there were some promising signs.

Between October/December 2022 and October/December 2023, non new-build property prices (of all types grouped) dropped by 3.9% across France. Around Paris, the fall was more at around 6.9%. 

This is tempered, however, by the drop in the final quarter assessed (October 2023 - December 2023), which was less. For the entirety of France, prices only dropped by 1.8% in this period, and by less – 1.7% – around Paris. 

Early notaire predictions are that year-on-year price drops between May 2023 and May 2024 will reach 10% or more in Angers, Le Mans, Saint-Étienne, Saint-Nazaire, Valenciennes and Nantes. 

This should be the lowest they reach, however. 

Overall price drops were similar for both houses and flats.

Whilst prices are still falling, it means a stabilisation before the end of 2024 seems likely. 

Some cities are seeing prices rises

Falling house prices have been recorded in a number of areas, although some cities are bucking the trend. 

Unlike in previous iterations of the notaire data, there is no clear geographical trend of areas performing better or worse. 

This being said, no areas in the south of France saw house prices increase (flat prices did go up in some locations). In Montpellier, prices remained unchanged.

The variation in price change across the country is high, however, with some cities prices seeing double figure falls and elsewhere increases of more than 8%. 

The cities where prices fell the most between October/December 2022 and October/December 2023 are: 

Orléans (-10.3%) 

Metz (-9.5%) 

Montauban (-8.6%)

The highest increases were found in: 

Amiens (+8.7%) 

Reims (+5.6%)

Nîmes (+6.1%) 

Other areas where prices are rising include Tours (2.3%) and Châteauroux (+0.7%)

These changes did not affect the most – and least – expensive areas of France, however, which remain mostly similar to previous iterations.

The three most expensive areas to buy a house in terms of median value, all in the south of France, were: 

Corse-du-Sud (€518,600)

Toulon (€466,800)

Montpellier (€417,000)

In comparison, the three cheapest areas were: 

Châteauroux (€138,500) 

Limoges (€171,300)

Poitiers (€180,000) 

Note that Paris is included as part of the wider Île-de-France region, so does not top the list of most expensive houses. 

A map with all the figures can be found below.

Read more: Row as French house on sale for five times more than buyer paid in 2018