The purchase budget for a house or apartment will have to be revised upwards by buyers.
While the real estate market is gradually starting to breathe with the drop in borrowing rates, bad news could hit the wallets of future owners hard. In order to generate additional revenue for the state coffers, the idea of higher taxation on purchases of houses and apartments has emerged in recent days. If the option was initially viewed from afar, the government is becoming more and more interested in it and even seems to be in favor of such a measure.
When purchasing real estate, it is not just the price of the property, the cost of credit or even the remuneration of the real estate agent to take into account in your budget. Additional fees must be paid, those commonly called “notary fees”. However, these (tens of) thousands of additional euros do not go into the pocket of this professional. And the bill could increase from 1er January 2025.
“Notary fees” are so called because they are paid at the notary office on the day of the final signing of the sale. However, in reality, the money is then distributed between several parties: the department, the municipality and the State. Each community receives a different percentage of the purchase price, which it sets itself. And it is precisely this rate that could be increased in the coming weeks.
Currently, departments are authorized to set a maximum rate of 4.50%. The vast majority of them apply it because it constitutes a significant financial windfall for their budget. In 2025, this maximum rate could rise to 5.50%. The proposal comes from several deputies and the government is not opposed to it. This change in law still needs to be adopted as part of the budget vote.
For a future owner, this would represent an increase of 1000 to 5000€ for the purchase of a property between 100,000 and 500,000 euros. A “sustainable” increase for buyers and which could allow the departments to garner an additional 2.6 billion euros, while many revenues are on the verge of decreasing.