The French real estate market has been experiencing a recovery phase in transaction volumes since mid-2025, with prices generally stabilized. This situation changes the way to conduct a purchase or sale: good timing now matters as much as the price per square meter.
Mandatory energy audit for homes rated E: what sellers still do not know
Most real estate guides mention the obligation of an energy audit for homes rated F or G on the DPE. Since January 1, 2025, this obligation extends to individual houses and single-ownership buildings rated E. A seller listing a house with an E label without providing this audit risks facing delays during the signing of the preliminary agreement.
This audit, stemming from the Climate and Resilience law, is not limited to a diagnosis. It outlines a recommended work plan to improve the energy performance of the property, along with cost estimates. The energy audit has become a negotiation lever between buyers and sellers, as it objectively assesses the amount of work to be anticipated.
For a seller, having this audit done in advance, even before publishing the listing, allows for anticipating questions and adjusting the sale price. For a buyer, reading it carefully provides a concrete basis for negotiation, relying on the identified renovation items. Platforms like lecomptoirdelimmobilier.fr facilitate this connection with professionals capable of assisting with these processes locally.
Thinking in market window rather than price per square meter
The classic approach is to compare the price per square meter of a property with neighborhood averages. This method remains useful, but it does not capture the current dynamics. The market has become more fluid again, without returning to pre-2022 levels. Volumes are rising, selling times are shortening in certain areas, and financing conditions are evolving from quarter to quarter.
Thinking in “market window” means integrating the time factor into the decision. A buyer who waits six more months to get a slightly lower price may find themselves facing higher credit rates, which negates the gain. Conversely, a seller who sets an overly ambitious price at the beginning of the cycle risks seeing their property stagnate as the market normalizes.
What this concretely changes for a buyer
Monitoring borrowing rates month by month becomes as useful as comparing listings. A decrease of a few tenths of a point on a long-term loan represents a significant difference in total cost. Securing financing at the right time can weigh more than negotiating the price.
What this changes for a seller
Listing for sale when transaction volumes are rising, rather than waiting for a hypothetical price peak, allows access to a broader pool of buyers. Field feedback varies on this point depending on geographical areas, but the general trend confirms that a properly priced property sells faster in a recovering market than in a stagnant one.
Real estate valuation: the biases that distort the sale price
Price estimation remains the most crucial step, whether buying or selling. The most frequent errors arise not from a lack of information, but from well-documented cognitive biases.
- The anchoring bias: a seller sets their price based on what they paid or what a neighbor received, without considering the actual evolution of the local market since that date.
- Overvaluation of completed work: a renovated kitchen or bathroom does not automatically translate into an equivalent increase in value to the amount invested. The buyer values these improvements, but rarely at cost price.
- The showcase effect of listing portals: the prices displayed online are not the actual sale prices. Notarial databases, accessible after signing, better reflect market reality.
Cross-referencing at least three sources of estimation (real estate agent, notary, online tool) reduces these biases. No isolated method is sufficient, especially in a market where prices are stabilizing without a uniform trend signal.
DPE and energy decency: the constraints affecting sales and rentals
The energy performance diagnosis does not only concern sellers. Landlord owners are facing an increasingly stringent timeline. Properties rated G are already considered indecent under the law, which prohibits their rental.
Properties rated F will be affected starting January 1, 2028, followed by properties rated E starting in 2034. For an investor considering a rental purchase, ignoring the DPE rating of the property amounts to overlooking a risk of rental prohibition in the medium term.
The reform of the DPE calculation method, applied to small areas, has allowed the reclassification of several hundred thousand properties without work. Checking if a property has benefited from this correction can radically change the financial analysis of a purchase project.
Checking the DPE before purchase: points to verify
- The date of the diagnosis: a DPE conducted before July 2021 uses the old calculation method and may be outdated.
- The consistency between the displayed energy class and the visible characteristics of the property (type of heating, window insulation, ventilation).
- The existence of a complementary energy audit for properties rated E, F, or G, detailing the recommended works and their estimated costs.
A real estate project, whether it involves purchasing a primary residence or a rental investment, today relies on parameters that go beyond just the displayed price. The regulatory timeline, the market window, and the energy quality of the property form a triptych that every buyer or seller benefits from mastering before committing.
