What really drives the price of a house, how to read price per square metre and why two neighbouring properties can differ by thirty per cent.
You always start with the price per square metre in the commune. It is a useful marker for finding your bearings, as long as you know it hides very wide gaps. A communal median lumps together the renovated studio and the old villa, the dark ground floor and the top floor with a view. Your property is not the median, it sits somewhere above or below, and that difference is what counts.
For a house, the habitable square metre does not tell the whole story either. The plot, its size, its aspect and its buildability sometimes weigh as much as the house itself, above all in communes where land is scarce.
Location first. The commune, the neighbourhood, how quiet the street is and the view explain most of the gaps. No renovation makes up for a poor location, and conversely a sought-after address holds the price even on a property that needs refreshing.
Condition and year of construction next. A recent roof, recent windows and a recent kitchen show up directly in the price. A property that has never been renovated sells at a discount that roughly matches the cost of the work to be done.
Layout and outbuildings last. The number of rooms, a through living room, a usable garden, a garage and a convertible attic add a clear premium. These are all usable square metres that a buyer values.
Relying on what the neighbour paid five years ago leads straight into a wall, the market has moved. Starting from the original purchase price does the same, it says nothing about today's value. And padding the price to keep room for negotiation often leaves the property stuck, which ends up costing more than pricing it right from the start.
The sound method is to cross-check several sources, the price per square metre in the area, recent sales of comparable properties and the precise features of your house. That is exactly what a serious online estimate does.