#REAL ESTATE
"The property market is frozen." Yet prices for existing homes fell sharply again in Q2 2026 (−1.0%) — and the number of transactions didn't drop, it rose.
Published on September 26, 2026 · to be rechecked on December 15, 2026
In the second quarter of 2026, prices for existing homes in France fell 1.0% on the quarter (provisional, seasonally adjusted), after −0.2% in Q1 — the decline is accelerating. Over one year prices are down 0.8%, driven more by houses (−1.3%) than flats (near flat, −0.1%). But the number of transactions over twelve months kept rising: 958,000 at end-June 2026, after 953,000 at end-March and 952,000 at end-December 2025 — a floor reached in late 2024 after the slide that began in 2022. The market isn't frozen: it's adjusting through prices, not volume.
Is France's property market frozen by prices that won't budge?
No: prices are falling again (−1.0% in Q2) while transactions are edging up.
In other words: a market adjusting through price is not a market at a standstill.
Five caveats that belong with the number
- The price drop mainly hits houses (−1.3% year-on-year); flats are near flat (−0.1%) — the adjustment isn't uniform.
- In the Paris region, flat prices are still up year-on-year (+0.3%, +0.6% in Paris itself) while house prices fall (−1.5%): the national figure masks opposite regional paths.
- The transaction count (958,000) is still a historic low compared with pre-2022 levels (over 1.1 million a year): "no longer falling" isn't yet "caught up".
- Q2 2026 figures are provisional and subject to revision — Q1 2026 was just revised down by 0.4 point.
- The transaction series had a methodological break in 2025 when the estimation method changed, worth keeping in mind for any comparison with earlier data.
Why it still matters: a property market can thaw through prices before it thaws through volumes — which is what's currently happening in France.
For you
- Did you think France's property market was still at a standstill?
- Does a price drop paired with rising transactions change your read on the market?
Source: INSEE — Notaires de France (Notaires-INSEE index), Informations rapides No. 216, Q2 2026.
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