Where in France are people now negotiating most off a property?

Buyers currently retain an advantageous position in the French property market, with both prices falling and the number of homes on sale rising in recent months. 

It means they have been able to begin negotiating property prices; with owners desperate to sell willing to make concessions. 

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

Even in the context of falling prices, some owners are still said to be over-valuing their properties, with the expectation that buyers will attempt to negotiate prices down.

Le Figaro has undertaken its own research into the trend, recording the difference in price listing and accepted offers for properties in 100 of France’s biggest towns and cities (Marseille, Lyon, and Paris were split into individual arrondissements). 

On average, prices can be negotiated down by 6.59%, it claims, significantly higher than usual when negotiations struggle to break 5% either way. 

Medium-sized towns see biggest negotiations

The town with the biggest potential for price negotiation is identified as Menton on the Riviera (Alpes-Maritimes), where the average is 9.09%.

This is followed by Tourcoing (Nord) at 8.25% and Agde (Hérault) at 7.57%. 

Le Figaro highlights that many locations with the biggest negotiations have traits in common: they are medium-sized towns next to a bigger neighbour, and saw property activity boom during Covid. 

As daily life has returned – mostly – to normal, purchasers are returning to the typical ‘safe havens’ to buy, such as in the larger cities of Nice, Lille, and Montpellier, which are the respective larger neighbours of the towns above. 

In comparison, negotiations in these towns were all around 3%.

The other eight largest negotiation price drops are as follows: 

Cormeilles-en-Parisis (Val-d'Oise): 7.19%

Sanary-sur-Mer (Var): 7.13%

Le Blanc-Mesnil (Seine-Saint-Denis): 7.02%

Narbonne (Aude): 6.83%

Clamart (Hauts-de-Seine): 6.79%

Sète (Hérault): 6.76%

Uzès (Gard): 6.72%

Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques): 6.66%

Read more: Interest rates for loans to buy property in France continue to fall

Larger cities more resistant to negotiations

On the other hand, negotiations are almost non-existent in larger cities. Alongside Lille and Nice, negotiations in Bordeaux are unlikely to drop prices by more than 2%. 

The return of buyers to these areas is keeping negotiations down even if property prices may be falling overall.

Every location where average price negotiations were 2% or under was either one of Paris’ arrondissements, or a suburb of the city in the Hauts-de-Seine department.