THE cost of buying a property in France is the fourth highest amongst the leading world economies.
In France the cost of registering a property, transfer taxes and estate agent and legal fees works out to be on average 16.3 per cent of the overall property value.
This figure puts it just behind Italy and Belgium, with South Korea proving the most expensive, while the UK figure stands at just over five per cent with Denmark having the lowest costs when buying a property.
The report by the Global Property Guide noted that the French legal origin countries, on average, have significantly higher transaction costs (14.2% of property value) than countries with German legal systems (11.5%), or Socialist (7.4%), English (6.5%), or Scandinavian (5.2%) legal origins.
In OECD countries, roundtrip transaction costs are generally below 10 per cent, with the report’s authors claiming this is a reasonable amount to pay in taxes and expenses in the buying and selling process, though they note that in some countries, the total is only three per cent.
However there are some countries with transaction costs which are very high. South Korea has the highest housing transaction cost in the OECD, at 22 per cent of the property’s value in Seoul.
Transaction costs in Belgium, Italy, France, Luxembourg and Greece exceed 15 per cent of the property’s value.
It is also interesting to note that the percentage taken by estate agents was highest in France, with their fees more than doubling the cost after registration and legal fees are taken into account.
What do you think? Do buyers of property in France get value for money or are the good days over for agents as the internet opens up new opportunities?
Comments
2 responses to “The high cost of buying in France”
Time for me to re-iterate one of my favourite rants.
If you’re buying in france, try, if at all possible, to *avoid* using an Agent Immobliere.
If you can find and be “introduced” to a property with*out* involving the estate agent then you can save a *significant* amount. Our purchase was circa 160k euros and we saved about 10k by not involving the agent.
But how do you find a property otherwise?
Other than by “word of mouth” or “friend of a friend” (which worked for us) the two main ways are (a) keep an eye out for private “for sale” boards on houses and (b) visit the local Notaire’s office. Most notaires will have a list of property for sale. Some will have a full on “estate agent” type display in the window or inside the office somewhere, others will just have a single folded A4 sheet listing half a dozen places in incipid style.
I’m told, though I’ve yet to explore, that you can also obtain a list of land for sale from the local tax office, this will be land which is being forcibily sold to pay the owner’s tax bills, and is more likely to yield stray plots with or without tumbled ruins than pristine ready-to-occupy finished converions. 🙂
Hi Chris
Many thanks for taking the time to pass on those hints and tips on buying a property in France.
I am sure other readers will find what you have written very useful, especially as it has the potential to save them a large amount of money.
All the best, Craig