House prices in France fall again, but not everywhere

France’s property market suffered another setback in the second quarter of 2026, with prices nationally falling by 1% between April and June although there were significant differences between regions.

The latest figures from INSEE (France’s national institute of statistics), based on property transaction data supplied by Notaires de France, France's notarial profession, show that prices fell for a second consecutive quarter, after dropping by 0.2% during the first three months of the year, with houses hit harder than flats.

The INSEE figures relate to logements anciens, meaning properties that are older than five years old or have already been lived in and re-sold since.

Despite the slight recovery in the last quarter of 2025, where prices had risen by 0.4% in the final quarter of 2025, they are now 0.8% lower than they were a year ago. 

Real estate experts blamed the poor performance of the market on ongoing geopolitical instability and uncertainty related to France’s upcoming presidential election scheduled for next year.  

There was some good news for the property market however regarding property sales, which remained relatively stable despite the drop in value of homes.

Certain areas of the country even bucked the downward trend in property values, with parts of southern France, including Lyon and Marseille, seeing slight price rises.

Houses are bearing the brunt

The data show a clear difference between houses and flats. Over the year to the second quarter of 2026, prices for flats remained almost unchanged, falling by just 0.1%.

House prices, on the other hand, fell by 1.3% over the same period.

The difference was also visible in the quarterly figures. Between the first and second quarters of 2026, flat prices fell by 0.7%, while house prices dropped by 1.3%.

The decline was more visible outside Île-de-France. In provincial France, prices for homes fell by 1.2% over the quarter and 1% over the year. Flat prices fell by 0.3% over the year, while house prices fell by 1.3%. 

It is worth noting that the INSEE figures relate to logements anciens, which means homes that have been previously-owned and do not cover newly-built homes.

Paris is holding up better

The Île-de-France region has also seen prices fall, although the capital is performing better than many other parts of the country.

Prices for existing homes across the region fell by 0.6% between the first and second quarters.

House prices dropped by 0.7%, while flat prices fell by 0.5%.

Over the year, however, flats in Île-de-France were still 0.3% more expensive.

In Paris specifically, prices for flats were 0.6% higher than a year earlier, despite falling by 0.4% during the second quarter.

The picture was less positive in the city’s inner suburbs, where flat prices fell by 1.1% over the quarter and were down 0.1% compared with a year earlier.

House prices across Île-de-France were down 1.5% over the year.

Some regional markets are still rising

The national figures, however, conceal significant differences between individual cities and regions.

Flat prices in Lyon fell by 1.9% over the year, while flats in Hauts-de-France were down 1.5%.

However, there are also markets that have continued to see increases.

Flat prices in Marseille were 2.2% higher than a year earlier, while house prices in the Lille metropolitan area rose by 2.1%.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur also remained slightly ahead overall, with existing-home prices up 0.2% over the year.

Sales have stopped falling

The figures come after a period of recovery in the number of property sales. Transaction volumes had been falling continuously from April 2022, before beginning to recover from late 2024. 

That recovery continued through the end of 2025, but sales have since stabilised rather than continuing to rise.

Around 958,000 existing homes were sold during the 12 months to the end of June.

That compares with 953,000 at the end of March and 952,000 at the end of December.

In other words, annual sales have been broadly stable since the beginning of the year.

What is causing the low house prices?

Analysts were divided about the reason for the ongoing slump with some blaming it on the fallout from the US-Iran conflict and others seeing the French presidential election next year as playing a role.  

“While in the previous quarter these figures were considered to be primarily affected by the international context…it is now the national and, above all, political context that is at play,” Elodie Frémont, president of the real estate statistics commission of the notaries of Greater Paris told AFP, adding that real estate professionals were “hanging on the presidential election campaign.” 

Loïc Cantin, president of the National Federation of Real Estate (Fnaim), said that the rise in fuel prices caused by the Middle East conflict was "a triggering factor" because of its effect on household purchasing power.