Frankrike m² Fastighetsprissättning är en bluff

In France, whenever a villa is sold, the sale is published on an official government website (that is often referred to as DVF). The notaires are required to publish (with updates dumped every 6 months) the net price the property sold for, the exact location on a map, the m² size of the land, and the ‘approximate m² footprint’ of the house.

It looks like this:

Insider tip: The website House Prices France has sales data going back much farther than DVF (10 years versus DVF’s 5 years — which is useful because the data from the Covid housing bubble years is not representative of the current market prices), and shows the data on a superior Satellite-view map, seen here:

Said plainly, the m² listed for sold villas is a joke — there’s no basis on reality.

Since the notaires make a % commission on each sale, they have a dishonest tactic to make the m² prices seem much higher than they really are, and mislead buyers. Agents then use this false data as justification for above-market asking prices, in an attempt to push housing prices up. This information then gets disseminated onto many other real estate websites.

How the Notaires Manipulate m2 Data

Since there’s no law against it, notaires report m² sizes that are many, many times smaller than the villa actually is. Therefore, a villa that displays as 145 m² might have been advertised as 450 m² (see examples below). Here’s why:

It’s only ‘the footprint’ on the land

Further excusing the incorrect m² is the face that the m² displayed for sold villas is only supposed to be the ‘m² footprint’. Even then, it’s nearly always much smaller than that. Here’s an example:

Hidden in their FAQ, the DVF website admits that the m² are only non-legally binding estimates of the ‘m² footprint’ of the house (the amount of land the house takes up) and they specifically say that it is inte the habitable m² and does inte have any legal value:

There’s no legal obligation to measure the m² or to be accurate in DVF

The main problem is that a proper m² survey isn’t required by law, and notaires aren’t required to report the actual m² on DVF, and consequently, the self-reported, ‘estimated’ m² sizes published on DVF are dramatically under-reported.

They Inflate the Sold Prices

DVF also displays the sold price as the “net seller” prices (which include tax and, on the French Riviera, since seller’s pay the agency fees from their profits, it includes agency fees) to inflate the sold prices. They then use this inflated sold price to make the m² averages, which is also obviously false.

They include agent commission in the Sale Price

In communes where agents routinely advertise that commission is paid by the seller (which is how the entire French Riviera does it), the DVF figure includes the commission and will read a few percent higher than the seller’s true net, further inflating the supposed m² pricing.

They Don’t Include Villas That Require Renovation

As Cédric Duplantier (who works at France’s Ministry of Finance, DGFIP, and who is a moderator on the DVF notaires website) said, “Contracts to sell buildings to be renovated are not part of the data present in DVF.” What this means is that villas that are sold as “requiring renovation” are not included in DVF. This eliminates many of the lower-priced sales from the average m² statistics and from the DVF map, further falsely raising the published ‘average m²’ statistics.

M² price averages are based on this flawed data

Despite the fact that the m² sizes published in DVF are not based on the real m² size of the villa, those who make commission off sales (notaires, agents, immo websites) all use this false data to pretend that villas are selling for much, much, much higher m² prices than they actually are.

On average, the m² claimed on the notaire website is 1/3 to 1/4 the actual size, which falsely inflates the m² average prices, which benefits notaires and agents, who are paid on commission.

The m² price averages displayed on websites are fake — they’re much, much higher than properties are really selling for.

Examples, with Proof!

There are endless examples of this, as more than 97% of villa sales are listed with incorrect m². Below are just a few examples to give you a sense of what to look for. Keep in mind that:

• The planning permissions show only the ‘habitable’ m², which leaves out a lot of space in some houses (anywhere with low ceilings, guest houses, storage closets, stairs, etc.), so most were likely advertised as being even larger!
• The price listed on DVF is higher than the real offer price, because it includes taxes!

That is why we say the “maximum” m² that it sold for, because if you included the non-'habitable' space and removed the taxes, the m² price would be even lower!

The also don't increase the m² after complete rebuilds, despite the real m² being public record…

As a side note, the reported # of rooms is also (obviously) not accurate.

How to Check the M2 of Villas

You can do your own checking by looking back at villas you’ve visited. Save the address and sales listing and compare to DVF och planning permissions.

Another way to see this is to check out the neighbor’s houses, and compare the size to a listing where the size is listed.

Here’s an example… This is a villa that’s currently for sale in Eze:

Vid kontroll DVF:s regeringswebbplats och Google Earth kan vi se att grannens villa sannolikt byggdes av samma utvecklare och har samma stil och ungefär samma storlek (baserat på dess fotavtryck och golv, sett via Google Earth); den såldes nyligen för 930 500 €!

Why This is Such a Problem

Despite the fact that the m² is clearly reported incorrectly and doesn’t reflect the actual size of the villas that have sold, this false data is being used for national pricing statistics and websites that claim they know the average price per m².

But it’s literally omöjlig to know if prices are going up or down, or the average m², since notaires can (and do!) manipulate that data based on making m² house sizes artificially smaller (to pretend prices are going up).

Understanding this scam is one of the most important steps to understanding the French real estate market.

Knowing this reality of the market is essential if you want to buy your villa for a price that is close to what you can sell it for.

Agents: Market Manipulation

Fastighetsbyråer manipulerar också marknaden genom att köpa fastigheter till priser som är 5x eller mer över marknadsvärdet, för att göra en försäljning till ett pris som är högre än någon annan villa har sålt för i det området. Detta är samma marknadsmanipulationstaktik som används i andra lyxfokuserade branscher som t.ex. konstmarknad.

They do this so they can point at that sale in an attempt to justify their far-above-market asking prices, and so that they can manipulate the publicized average m² prices. While they own it, they rent it out.

Here’s an example: By far the highest-priced sale of a villa in Eze is at 772 avenue de la Marne. A little digging and you’ll see that Prestigimo (a real estate agency) bought it. They do their best to disguise this fact, and sell properties between agencies, buying from developer buddies to get money back, etc. Dig around and you’ll find an example like this in nearly every town.

More Flat-Out Lies…

On top of all this, and adding to the confusion around m² pricing, agents routinely lie about the m² size of villas, and they get inspectors to lie too. It’s not unusual for listings to claim that a villa is 100 to 200 m² larger than it really is. The only way to know the real m² is to have your own, independent inspector measure it. Better yet, have two inspectors measure it and see if they come up with different numbers.

Här är how to find out the verklig value of a villa in France.

Köpa en villa? Läs detta först!

När du är redo att leta efter en fastighet, se till att läsa vår komplett guide för att köpa fastigheter i Frankrike. Dessa guider förklarar hur man uppskattar en fastighets verklig value, how to get the best price and avoid over-pricing, what to look out for, how to avoid getting scammed, and more.

Vår guide till vart marknaden är på väg inkluderar: Franska Rivierans fastighetsmarknadsförutsägelser, aktuella och historiska pristrender på marknaden och anledningarna till att priserna kommer att fortsätta att falla. Plus, kompletterande guide till ryssar och deras inverkan på den franska Rivierans fastighetsmarknad.

Vår guide till fastighetslistor inkluderar: hur man hittar villor till salu, vad man ska hålla utkik efter, desinformation och varningar, auktioner och utmätningar, köp direkt från säljare, varför timing är allt och anledningen till att bara ungefär hälften av villaförsäljningen är offentligt listad.

Vår guide till bedrägerier och hemligheter includes: warnings about the unethical tricks that agents, notaires, sellers, developers and builders use to get more money out of you. This is a must-read, and the whistleblower guide that those in the business don’t want you to see.

Vår guide till fastighetsmäklare includes: the dishonest things agents will tell you, how real estate agencies operate, buyer’s agents and property finders, why you should avoid illegal and non-local agents, and who to trust (an important warning).

Vår guide till prissättning och bestämning av en villas marknadsvärde inkluderar: varför det finns så mycket extrema överpriser, hur man uppskattar en villas marknadsvärde (vad den är värd) och en steg-för-steg-guide för att hitta ditt offertpris.

Vår guide till viktiga saker att ta reda på inkluderar: diagnostiska rapporter och undersökningar, sol och mikroklimat, potentiella problem med utsikten, bostadsskatter, ålder, internet och mobil tillgång, farozoner (röda) hälsorisker, integritets- och rymdproblem, närliggande problem, vad du Jag kommer faktiskt att äga olagliga tillägg och strukturer, varför de säljer, hur man verifierar och mer.

Vår guide till saker att tänka på inkluderar: din faktisk kostnader, problem med att köpa en "nyrenoverad" villa, lära dig om lokal kriminalitet och husockupanter och frågor att ställa dig själv.

Vår guide till köpprocessen includes: negotiating the price & the initial offer, choosing an honest notaire, buying in the black, the official offer & deposit, using a SCI, the deposit, the cooling-off period, what to do before handing over the money, and the final signing.

Vår guide för efter köp inkluderar: försäkringsfallgropar, tips för fritidshus, hyra din villa, renovera och vad du ska veta om att anställa människor.

Guide för säljare: Hur du prissätter din villa så att den säljs.