Stays & Homes Paris / Buying guide
Buying property in Paris as a foreigner
A plain-English guide to buying an apartment in Paris when you live abroad: who can buy, how the process runs, what it really costs and which taxes follow. Every figure is dated and linked to its official source.
Can a foreigner buy property in Paris?
Yes. France places no restriction on foreign ownership of residential property. A buyer of any nationality, resident or not, can purchase an apartment in Paris in their own name, with the same rights and the same legal protections as a French buyer. No visa, residence permit or French bank account is required to sign.
Two points are often misunderstood. First, buying a home gives no right to live in France: France has no "golden visa" for property purchases, and a non-EU owner remains subject to the Schengen rule of 90 days in any 180-day period unless they hold a visa (see france-visas.gouv.fr). Second, anti-money-laundering rules mean the notaire must document the origin of your funds, so expect to provide bank statements and, for companies or trusts, the identity of the beneficial owners.
How the purchase works, step by step
A Paris purchase runs in five steps: a written offer, a preliminary contract with a deposit of around 5 to 10 percent, a 10-day cooling-off period for the buyer, about three months of legal and financing work, then the final deed signed before a notaire. Allow three to four months from accepted offer to keys.
- The offer (offre d'achat). Made in writing, usually through the agent. Once the seller countersigns at the asking price or an agreed price, both sides move to the preliminary contract. In prime Paris, the strongest offers are those with proof of funds attached and few conditions.
- The preliminary contract. Either a compromis de vente or a promesse de vente, prepared by the notaire or the agency. It fixes the price, the completion date and the conditions under which you can walk away, typically obtaining your mortgage. The deposit is 10 percent in principle for a promesse and commonly 5 to 10 percent for a compromis, held in the notaire's escrow account.
- The cooling-off period. A private buyer has 10 days to withdraw for any reason, and the deposit is refunded within 21 days (Notaires de France; Code de la construction et de l'habitation, art. L271-1). The seller has no such right.
- The three months in between. The notaire checks title, planning and co-ownership records, and purges the City of Paris's right of pre-emption, which takes two to three months. You finalise your financing. The Notaires du Grand Paris give about three months between preliminary contract and completion.
- The final deed (acte authentique). Signed at the notaire's office. The balance is wired in advance from an account in your name; keys are handed over the same day. If you cannot travel, you can sign by power of attorney.
Two things surprise American and British buyers. There is no MLS: an apartment may be listed with several agencies, with one, or with none, which is why a large part of the search happens through relationships. And a traditional French agency is engaged by the seller; if you want someone on your side of the table, you engage your own adviser or buyer's agent, and you may appoint your own notaire at no extra cost.
What does it cost on top of the price?
Budget roughly 7.5 percent of the price for closing costs on an existing Paris apartment. Most of it is transfer duty, which in Paris is 6.32 percent for deeds signed between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2028. The rest is the notaire's regulated fee, land-registry costs and disbursements.
| Item | Rate or amount | On €2,000,000 | On €5,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer duty (droits de mutation) | 6.32% in Paris until 31 March 2028 (5.81% for qualifying first-time buyers of a main home) | €126,400 | €316,000 |
| Notaire's regulated fee, registry and disbursements | Regulated sliding scale (0.799% above €60,000, plus VAT), 0.1% land-registry contribution and disbursements | about €21,000–24,000 | about €52,000–56,000 |
| Total closing costs | about 7.4–7.5% | about €147,000–151,000 | about €368,000–372,000 |
Many English-language pages, and several AI assistants, still quote 5.81 percent for Paris. That was the rate before 1 April 2025. Your notaire will give you a precise statement before you sign. For the line-by-line breakdown, examples up to €10 million and a calculator, see Notary fees in Paris in 2026.
Agency fees are separate. In France they are usually included in the advertised price ("FAI") and paid by the seller out of the proceeds; when they are payable by the buyer, the listing must say so. A buyer's adviser is paid by the buyer, under a written agreement signed before the search begins.
Can a non-resident get a French mortgage?
Yes, French banks lend to non-residents, but on stricter terms than to residents. All French mortgages follow the national rule of a maximum 35 percent debt-to-income ratio and a maximum 25-year term. Non-residents should expect to contribute a larger deposit and to provide fully documented worldwide income.
The 35 percent / 25-year rule is a binding decision of France's financial stability council (HCSF). Loan-to-value ratios for non-residents are set bank by bank and are not published officially; mortgage brokers currently indicate lower ratios for US and Gulf residents than for UK or EU residents. Treat any figure you read online as an indication and ask a broker for a written quote. If you finance the purchase, make the loan a condition of the preliminary contract.
Which taxes apply to a non-resident owner?
Four taxes matter: annual property taxes, including a 60 percent Paris surcharge on second homes; the real-estate wealth tax (IFI) above €1.3 million of net French property; income tax on any rent; and capital gains tax on sale, which is 36.2 percent before allowances for most non-European residents and falls with the length of ownership.
While you own
- Taxe foncière is paid each year by the owner. Taxe d'habitation still applies to second homes, and Paris applies the maximum 60 percent surcharge on its share (paris.fr, February 2026).
- IFI, the real-estate wealth tax. Non-residents are liable only on property located in France. It applies when the net taxable value exceeds €1,300,000 on 1 January; the scale then runs from 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent, starting from €800,000 (service-public.gouv.fr, March 2026; impots.gouv.fr). Acquisition debt is deductible under conditions.
When you sell
| Where you are affiliated for social security | Income tax | Social levies | Total before allowances |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States, Gulf states, Asia and other non-European countries | 19% | 17.2% | 36.2% |
| EU, EEA or Switzerland — and the United Kingdom, which the French tax office continues to treat the same way after Brexit | 19% | 7.5% | 26.5% |
Allowances for length of ownership reduce the taxable gain from the sixth year: the income-tax part is fully exempt after 22 years and the social-levy part after 30 years. A surcharge of 2 to 6 percent applies to taxable gains above €50,000. Your home country may also tax the gain, with a credit for French tax under most treaties: this is a question for your own tax adviser before you buy, not when you sell.
Inheritance and ownership structure
French inheritance rules, the choice between owning in your own name or through a company such as an SCI, and the interaction with US, UK or Gulf law are decisions to take with a notaire and a cross-border tax adviser before the preliminary contract. We introduce clients to English-speaking notaires and lawyers for exactly this; we do not give that advice ourselves.
Can I rent out my Paris apartment?
Long-term letting is unrestricted. Short-term tourist letting is tightly controlled: a main residence may be let for at most 90 days a year since 1 January 2025, and a second home cannot legally be let to tourists at all without a change-of-use authorisation that is, in practice, very hard to obtain.
- Main residence (you live there at least eight months a year): 90 nights per calendar year, with a registration number on every listing. The cap was 120 nights until the end of 2024 (paris.fr, March 2026).
- Second home or pied-à-terre: tourist letting requires a change of use with compensation. Letting without it exposes the owner to a fine of up to €100,000 per dwelling. Co-owners can also vote to ban tourist lets in the building.
- What works for a pied-à-terre: a furnished lease of one to ten months to a person on assignment (bail mobilité), a one-year furnished lease, or a company lease. Check the energy rating first: G-rated homes can no longer be offered on a new residential lease.
How long does it take?
From accepted offer to keys, three to four months is normal in Paris. The search itself is the variable: a well-defined brief in a liquid neighbourhood can be met in a few weeks, while a specific request — a high floor with a terrace on the Left Bank, an étage noble with a view — can take six months or more.
What to check before you sign
- The last three years of co-ownership minutes: voted works, disputes, unpaid charges.
- The loi Carrez floor area, and what is not counted in it.
- The energy rating (DPE), especially if you plan to let.
- Service charges and the building's works fund.
- Floor, lift, orientation and noise — visited at two different times of day.
- For a Haussmann apartment: which period features are original, and the condition of the façade and roof.
This guide is general information, correct to the best of our knowledge on the date shown, and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Rates and rules change; your notaire and your tax adviser will confirm how they apply to you. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it.