Things are heating up in Paris as we approach the municipal elections in March. As part of her pitch, Socialist Party candidate for Mayor Anne Hidalgo is supporting a proposal to transform Avenue Foch into a pedestrian zone.

We have reported regularly on the changing capital gains tax landscape in France. Read our latest update here. The capital gain is the difference between the price you pay for a property that is not your primary residence and the price you get when you sell it. However, there is a range of expenses, prescribed […]

A recent study reveals that the Avenue Montaigne in the 8th Arrondissement (district) is among the top 10 most expensive streets in the world for luxury real estate. The study ranked streets by their average price per square meter. At the top came Pollock’s Path in Hong Kong at a substantial 120,000€/m2. Avenue Montaigne came […]

Mortgage interest rates in France remain at their lowest for years at around 3%. French property experts consider that this helped to sustain the market for older properties (as opposed to new construction) in 2013.

Properties in Paris are traditionally marketed by price per square meter. Now FNAIM, the trade association for realtors in Paris and the Ile-de-France region, has developed an interactive real estate map. This allows you to identify the arrondissements (districts) that have properties in the price range and of the type you’re looking for.

The City of Paris owns a substantial slice of the City of Light. Taking its lead from the French government, in 2013 City Hall listed and disclosed the extent of its real estate. It holds five million square meters of property – equivalent to around 17.4% of Paris’s total built real estate.

Good news for real estate buyers in Paris: the City of Paris has decided not to increase its share of stamp duty on property sales as of March 1st 2014. That portion of stamp duty will remain at 3.8% of the purchase price instead of rising to 4.5%.

The Prefect of Paris and the Ile-de-France Region have given authorization to the Russian government to build a Russian Orthodox spiritual and cultural center on the Quai Branly in the 7th Arrondissement (district).

An historic building in the Marais neighborhood is to be renovated and converted into a 5-star hotel. Cinema producer and hotelier Jean-Pierre Marois plans a 39-room luxury hotel that will preserve the unique character of the Bains-Douches (literally, public baths) building, located at 7 rue du Bourg l’Abbé in the 3rd arrondissement (district). The hotel […]

Real estate transactions in France are subject to stamp duty, which the buyer pays. The rate is currently 5.09% of the price of the property and breaks down into: A departmental (county) tax of 3.80%. Paris is classified as a county. A communal (municipal) tax of 1.20%. Each arrondissement (district) of Paris counts as a […]