A new French residential property price index launches in September 2014

A new French residential property price index is to be launched in September 2014. Its creator is Michel Mouillart, a professor of economics at a Paris university and director of the Housing Credit Observatory. He claims that it will provide more up to date information than existing data.

The Prix de l’Immobilier index will update weekly. It will use figures on property transactions from banks, financial institutions and the Syndicat National des Professionels Immobiliers (National Syndicate of Real Estate Professionals). The aim is to show close-to real time changes in prices to enable buyers and sellers to keep up with the French property market and make more informed decisions.

Currently, the most comprehensive data about property sales and prices is provided by the Notaires de France. This is the body that represents notaires, the officials who handle French real estate sales and have specialized legal training. However, their data has been criticized for being several months out of date by the time it is published.

The new index will show data by region, town, or city as well as for the whole of France. It will also list property under different categories, e.g. houses and apartments.

Some property experts believe that the real time information provided by the index will be particularly useful to buyers from overseas. The lack of such information in France can be frustrating for people who are used to such data being readily available.

Until the accuracy and completeness of the new index can be confirmed, the jury is still out.