Cheap Houses in France: Where Under 200,000 Euros Buys a Home, With 2025 Sale Prices by Département

Houses in France that sell for under 200,000 euros are not a rarity: in 2025 they were almost half of all house sales. But the figure hides a huge gap between départements, and a low price in a listing says nothing about what the house needs. This guide uses the sales the tax administration recorded in 2025 to show where houses sell cheapest and where they do not, explains what that price leaves out, and adds up what an American buyer pays on top. The houses agencies currently list, in any département and up to any budget, are on our homes for sale page. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change and your situation may differ: always verify current requirements with the relevant French authorities or a licensed professional.

How Much Does a House Cost in France? The 2025 Sales

The figures below come from the tax administration’s open data on sales recorded in 2025, the DVF géolocalisées file on data.gouv.fr, which we read on October 31, 2026. We kept the sales that carry exactly one house, with a built area of 9 square meters or more and a price between 150 and 30,000 euros per square meter. That leaves 464,889 house sales. The file has no data for Moselle, Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin or Mayotte, so they are not in the count.

• Median price: 205,500 euros.
• At 200,000 euros or less: 48.8 percent of sales.
• At 150,000 euros or less: 32.4 percent.
• At 100,000 euros or less: 16.7 percent.

A median is the middle sale, not a typical house. The figures count every kind of house, in every condition, on a plot of any size.

The Départements Where Houses Sell Cheapest

Among the départements with at least 800 house sales in 2025, these have the lowest median price:

Source: DVF géolocalisées 2025, sales of one house, our calculation.

Better-Known Areas Look Different

The same file for some départements that foreign buyers hear about more:

Source: DVF géolocalisées 2025, sales of one house, our calculation.

The gap is the point. In the Creuse nearly every house sale was under 200,000 euros; in the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes about one in eight was. If your budget is 200,000 euros, your choice is a map of départements, not a style of house. For the regions Americans usually compare, see how to choose where to live in France and the best places to live in the South of France.

What a Low Price Leaves Out

The sales file records the price, the date and the built area. It does not record the state of the house, the size of the plot, how far it is from a shop or whether it has heating. Two houses at the same price can need very different amounts of work, and no sale file can tell you which. The listing itself must: service-public says an advertisement for a property for sale must state its condition (works to be done, new, renovated), its energy label and information on natural and technological risks (page verified September 12, 2025). Read those lines before the photos.

The seller must also hand the buyer a file of diagnostics. For a house, service-public lists (page verified March 7, 2025):

• the energy performance diagnostic (DPE) for a house of 50 square meters or more, and an energy audit if the DPE label is E, F or G
• a lead report if the house was built before January 1, 1949
• an asbestos statement if the building permit was issued before July 1, 1997
• the state of the electrical and gas installations if they are more than 15 years old
• a diagnostic of the wastewater system if the house has a private installation
• termite and risk statements in the zones concerned.

Start with the energy audit (required when the label is E, F or G) and the wastewater report, and read them before you sign a compromis. Our guide to old stone houses and farmhouses explains how to read them.

What You Pay on Top of the Price

The regulated purchase costs, from official and notarial pages read on October 31, 2026:

• The notaire’s scale (émoluments): 3.870 percent on the first 6,500 euros, 1.596 percent from 6,500 to 17,000, 1.064 percent from 17,000 to 60,000 and 0.799 percent above, plus 20 percent VAT (service-public).
• The départemental tax: 3.80 percent by default, set by each département between 1.20 and 4.50 percent, with up to 5 percent allowed for deeds signed between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2028 (collectivités locales).
• The municipal tax and the charges: 1.20 percent of the price for the commune, 2.37 percent of the départemental tax as a collection charge (Notaires de France) and 0.10 percent of the price as a land-registry charge (Chambre des notaires de Paris).

By our own arithmetic from those rates (not a quote), the regulated costs on three prices are:

The notaire’s out-of-pocket expenses (débours) come on top, and above 150,000 euros the notaire may grant a reduction of the émoluments, under conditions. The increase to 5 percent does not apply to a first-time buyer acquiring a main residence; for any other buyer, ask the notaire which rate the département applies. Details line by line are in our notaire fees guide.

What You Pay Every Year

• Taxe foncière: owed by whoever owns the house on January 1, billed each September, with rates voted by local authorities (service-public). See French property taxes for US owners.
• Taxe d’habitation on a second home: abolished on main residences since January 1, 2023 but still due on a second home, on a cadastral rental value and a commune rate, with a possible surcharge in some communes (service-public).

Owning Is Not Living There

France-Visas states that for any stay in France exceeding 90 days you must apply in advance for a long-stay visa, and that your nationality does not exempt you (page read on October 31, 2026). A cheap house in the Creuse gives you a place to stay for as long as your visa or short-stay allowance lets you. Read how long Americans can stay in France without a visa before you decide whether the house is a home or a holiday house.

How to Buy: The Short Version

Buying follows the same steps at 80,000 euros as at 800,000: an offer, a compromis de vente that carries conditions such as a mortgage, a 10-day withdrawal right counted from the day after the notifying registered letter is first presented, a deposit often set at 10 percent and held by the notaire, then the deed (service-public, verified April 10, 2026). The full sequence is in our guide to buying property in France as an American, and mortgage options for US citizens are in our French mortgage guide. To buy with other people, read our SCI guide.

Checklist Before You Fall for a Cheap House

1. Look up the median price of the département in the tables above and see whether the house is far under it, and ask why.
2. Read the listing’s line on the state of the house and the energy label.
3. Ask for the whole diagnostics file before you make an offer, the energy audit and the wastewater report first.
4. Ask the notaire for the departmental rate and a written estimate of all costs.
5. Add the taxe foncière of the last year to your yearly cost.
6. Decide how many days a year you can legally be in France before you commit.

FAQ

How much does a house cost in France?

The median house sold for 205,500 euros in 2025, across the area covered by the file. By département the median ranged from 76,800 euros in the Creuse to 540,000 euros in the Alpes-Maritimes in the figures above.

Where are the cheapest houses in France?

Among départements with at least 800 house sales in 2025, the lowest medians were the Creuse (76,800 euros), the Indre and the Nièvre (90,000 euros each), the Haute-Marne (100,000 euros) and the Cher (109,000 euros).

Can you buy a house in France for under 100,000 euros?

Yes: 16.7 percent of house sales in 2025 were at 100,000 euros or less, and in the Creuse, the Nièvre and the Indre more than half were. The price does not show the condition of the house.

What are the extra costs when you buy a house in France?

About 7.1 to 7.9 percent of the price in regulated costs at a price between 100,000 and 200,000 euros, by our calculation above, plus the notaire’s out-of-pocket expenses and any works the diagnostics point to.

Can Americans buy a cheap house in France?

Yes. A notary’s guide for foreign buyers states that French law does not restrict foreign ownership (page read on October 31, 2026). Owning it does not give you the right to live there.

Conclusion

Almost half of the houses sold in France in 2025 went for 200,000 euros or less, but where you look decides everything: the median was 76,800 euros in the Creuse and 540,000 in the Alpes-Maritimes. A low price is only the first number. Read the condition line, the energy audit and the wastewater report, add about 7 to 8 percent of regulated costs and the taxe foncière, and check that your visa lets you use the house as you plan. When you are ready to compare real houses, the homes for sale page lists what agencies offer up to 200,000 euros.