Property sale prices in France opened up to public

The property market in France is undergoing a revolution, with sale price data – previously the preserve of the state and notaires – now freely available at a new website.

It means buyers and sellers can check on the real price that homes in any area of France have sold for in the last five years.

It uses tax service data and follows a law aimed at increasing public confidence in the state. The reason given is to bring greater transparency to the property/land market.

Minister of Public Accounts Gérald Dar­manin said it would allow “pure and perfect competition” and mean consumers can know the value of a property better before buying.

Property sale price information was formerly available only by payment to a notaire – around €120 for a short list of recent prices in a precise named area.

Since last year, taxpayers could consult the tax website’s Patrim database via their online account but they had to specify a reason and were limited to a set number of checks per year. Before that, Patrim was limited to uses such as evaluations for wealth tax declarations.

Now app.dvf.etalab.gouv.fr allows unlimited checks, anonymously. You can zoom in on a map to see type of property, square metres, number of rooms and price (minus notaire and agency fees).

By comparison, the UK offers the chance to search for sale information by town or address but you cannot simply look at a map.

Sharon Scott, marketing manager of UK-French estate agents Leggett Immobilier, said: “Transparency in the property market is always a good thing and this has been a long time coming.

“Vendors will have a better idea of what sales prices are locally, as well as how long it has taken for properties to sell. Buyers can collect evidence to know where to pitch an offer and to find areas they can afford.”

Sébastien de Lafond, of property site Meilleurs­Agents, agreed it was positive, saying sellers and buyers often have unrealistic ideas. “Sometimes it takes months to move forward. Now sales will proceed faster.”

Ms Scott added: “But bald statistics can mislead. They don’t show a property’s condition, the economic and political climate or the motivations of buyer and seller.

“A good agent can factor in local knowledge.”

The site will be updated in April and October but currently only has sales up to 2018.

Rapidity of updates also depends on how efficient local property registry services are.

Charlie Cailloux, legal expert from peer-to-peer sales site pap.fr, said prices in dynamic cities such as Nantes or Bordeaux change rapidly so site information can be quickly out of date.

He said you cannot see specifics, such as the floor a flat is on, its view, or if it has a terrace.

It remains useful to research pro­perties on sale, he said.

“However, this will give more independence to the seller.

“It will allow them to set their prices for themselves more precisely, to defend their price to a buyer, or to say to an agency, I think you’ve set it too high or too low.”