the increase in 2025 worries real estate buyers

The year 2025 promises to be marked by a new weight on the shoulders of real estate buyers. An increase in transfer taxes, often called notary feesis on the program. Michel Barnier, Prime Minister, announced this project as part of the finance law, with the main objective of supporting the budgets of the departments, strongly affected by a drop in real estate transactions. However, this decision raises many concerns: how will this increase impact the already weakened finances of buyers?

Real estate : What do notary fees cover?

Notary fees, essential to finalize any real estate purchase, include several elements:

• Transfer taxes : taxes collected for the State, municipalities and departments, representing the majority of the sum.
• Notary fees : the regulated remuneration of notaries for their services.
• Additional costs : administrative expenses linked to compulsory formalities.

In the former, these costs currently range between 7% and 8% of the purchase price. For new properties, they are lower, often between 2% and 3%.

Michel Barnier proposed authorizing an increase of 0.5 points on the departmental share of transfer taxes, increasing it from 4.5% to 5% in the departments which choose to apply it. According to the government, this measure is presented as temporary, applicable over a period of three years (2025-2027).

The departments depend heavily on transfer taxes to finance their expenses, particularly social and infrastructure. With a historic fall in real estate transactions (-23% in volume over one year), their revenues have decreased drastically. This increase in duties aims to compensate for this shortfall, estimated at several billion euros. The government expects that the measure will bring in 1 billion euros per year to local authorities.

The price of a property purchase will increase for the French

For an average buyer, this increase will represent an additional expense which is also their responsibility. Let’s take concrete examples for an old property:

• 200 000 euros : an increase in the costs of 1 000 eurosbringing the total bill to approximately 16 680 euros.
• 300 000 euros : a surplus of 1 500 eurosfor a total of around 24 900 euros.

These amounts are added to other costs linked to the purchase, such as agency fees or bank charges, creating additional pressure on households. This increase risks penalizing first-time buyers, already faced with high interest rates and a drop in their purchasing power. Young households, often forced to maximize their loans, could see their dream of becoming owners become even more distant.

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Real estate: the war between new and old

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