Should you buy your main home in France or keep renting? In 2026 the answer comes down to a single figure — and it varies tenfold from one city to another. According to the 12th edition (2025) of the Meilleurtaux "Buy or Rent?" barometer ("Acheter ou Louer ?"), it takes on average 12 years and 3 months of ownership for buying a 70 m² home to beat renting, down from 14 years and 8 months a year earlier. Behind that national average lies a huge spread: around 21 years in Paris, 2 years and 1 month in Saint-Étienne.
That threshold has a name: the break-even point. It is the holding period beyond which the owner's wealth overtakes that of a tenant who had invested their deposit instead, once you count acquisition costs, the opportunity cost of the capital tied up, property tax, maintenance — and, on the other side, a rent indexed to the IRL (indice de référence des loyers — the French rent reference index). If you know how many years you will stay in the home, you almost always know whether to buy.
Average break-even point in France: 12 years and 3 months (Meilleurtaux barometer, 12th edition, 2025) — down 2 years and 5 months in one year, but stretching from 2 years and 1 month in Saint-Étienne to 21 years and 1 month in Paris.
What this article covers
This article walks through the full buy-vs-rent break-even method: 2026 acquisition costs by department, the opportunity cost of your deposit (Livret A at 1.7%, euro funds around 2.6%), property tax and non-recoverable service charges, maintenance, against a rent indexed to the IRL (+1.15% in Q2 2026). With two contrasting worked cases — Paris and Saint-Étienne — and the mistakes that skew the calculation.
Buy or rent in France in 2026: a legal framework that has shifted
The break-even calculation depends on parameters set by law, and several changed between 2025 and 2026. On the buyer's side, the 2025 Finance Act (Act No. 2025-127 of 14 February 2025, art. 116) allowed departments to raise the departmental rate of the transfer duties for valuable consideration (DMTO — droits de mutation à titre onéreux, the main component of French "notary fees") from 4.50% to a maximum of 5.00%, for deeds signed between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2028. The large majority of departments voted for the increase: the overall DMTO rate then moves from 5.81% to a maximum of 6.32%. The 2026 Finance Act (Act No. 2026-103 of 19 February 2026, art. 121) kept this 5% cap on the departmental share (ANIL analysis).
First-time buyers escape the increase: they remain taxed at 5.81% everywhere. The 2025 Finance Act also created a departmental option (art. 1594 F septies of the CGI — Code général des impôts, the French General Tax Code): the departmental council may, by resolution, reduce or exempt first-time buyers from the DMTO (as defined in article L. 31-10-3 of the CCH, the French Construction and Housing Code), provided they commit to occupying the home as their main residence for at least five years and move in within a year. The law sets no national price cap: everything depends on your department's resolution.
On the recurring-cost side, property-tax bases are revalued by +0.8% in 2026 (flat coefficient of 1.008, CGI art. 1518 bis) — the lowest coefficient since 2021, after +1.7% in 2025 and +3.9% in 2024. The long-term trend remains heavy for owners: property tax rose by +37.3% between 2014 and 2024 (UNPI, 19th national property-tax observatory, October 2025). Finally, the full capital-gains exemption on the main residence is maintained (CGI, art. 150 U, II-1°): the amendment that sought to make it conditional on five years of occupancy was not retained in the final law.
On the tenant's side, the rent is not frozen either: the IRL for Q2 2026 stands at 148.37, up +1.15% year on year (INSEE, Informations rapides No. 167 of 10 July 2026). And in around 70 municipalities — Paris, Lille, Lyon-Villeurbanne, Bordeaux and Montpellier among them — the rent control introduced by the ELAN Act (art. 140, extended by the 3DS Act of 21 February 2022) caps rents: that experiment runs until November 2026 and its two-year extension, before the Senate, has not been voted.
| 2026 parameter | Value | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition costs on existing property | ≈ 8% of the price (DMTO from 5.81% to 6.32%) | 2025 Finance Act, art. 116 |
| DMTO for first-time buyers | 5.81% everywhere; reduction or exemption possible by departmental resolution | CGI, art. 1594 F septies |
| Property-tax bases | +0.8% (coefficient 1.008) | CGI, art. 1518 bis |
| Rent indexation (IRL Q2 2026) | 148.37, i.e. +1.15% year on year | INSEE, IR No. 167 |
| Main-residence capital gains | Full exemption maintained | CGI, art. 150 U, II-1° |
| PTZ for new-builds | All zones (A bis to C), flats and houses, until 31 December 2027 | 2025 Finance Act; decree No. 2025-299 |
One last lever for new-build buyers: since 1 April 2025 (art. 90 of the 2025 Finance Act and decree No. 2025-299 of 29 March 2025), the zero-rate loan (PTZ — prêt à taux zéro) is available across the whole country (zones A bis to C), for flats as well as new single-family homes, and has been extended until 31 December 2027. A partly interest-free loan lightens the interest bill, and therefore shortens the break-even point.
The buy-vs-rent break-even point: the full calculation method
The break-even point does not compare a monthly instalment to a rent. It compares, year after year, two wealth trajectories: the owner's (capital repaid and property value, minus unrecoverable costs) and the tenant's (deposit invested and cost differences saved, minus rents paid). The break-even point is the year the owner's curve crosses the tenant's. Three families of flows enter the calculation.
On the buying side: the costs that build no wealth
First item, paid once but never recovered: acquisition costs, in the region of 8% of the price for an existing property — our guide to notary fees in 2026, department by department breaks down their composition. On a €300,000 property, that is an entry ticket of about €24,000 that a resale will not refund.
Then come loan interest and insurance. In June 2026, average market rates stood at 3.26% across all durations — and by term at 3.12% over 15 years, 3.22% over 20 years and 3.30% over 25 years (Crédit Logement/CSA Observatory, Q2 2026). Borrower insurance adds in the region of 0.1% to 0.4% of the capital per year depending on age and profile — let us use 0.2% in our examples. Finally, the owner alone bears the property tax, non-recoverable co-ownership service charges (there is no official average: cost them from the general-meeting minutes of the building you are targeting) and routine maintenance, which simulators conventionally estimate at 0.5% to 1% of the price per year — a customary assumption, not a regulatory figure.
On the renting side: the rent, the IRL and a deposit that keeps working
The tenant pays rent with no capital in return, generally indexed each year to the IRL — +1.15% in Q2 2026; our article on rent revision and the IRL details the revision formula. But the tenant keeps their capital: the deposit and the costs they never incurred can be invested. In 2026, the reference risk-free rate is the Livret A (the French regulated savings account): 1.7% from 1 August 2026, after 1.5% in the first half of the year (info.gouv.fr, on the Banque de France's recommendation). Euro funds in life insurance, for their part, returned an average of 2.63% for 2025 (ACPR) — let us use 2.6% in our calculations. That is the opportunity cost of the deposit: every euro locked into the walls no longer earns that interest elsewhere.
What tips the balance over time
If year one almost always favours the tenant, three forces work for the owner. First, amortisation: a growing share of each instalment repays capital, and therefore builds wealth. Second, rent inflation: even at +1.15% a year, an indexed rent grows substantially over twenty years, while the instalment of a fixed-rate loan never moves. Third, resale: the capital gain on a main residence is fully exempt (CGI, art. 150 U, II-1°), and prices of existing homes stabilised in Q1 2026 (+0.2% over the quarter, +0.1% year on year, Notaires-INSEE index).
The Meilleurtaux barometer aggregates all of this with explicit assumptions: 32 cities, a 70 m² home, a 10% deposit and a 20-year loan at 3.22%. The result, city by city:
| City (70 m²) | Buy-vs-rent break-even point |
|---|---|
| Aix-en-Provence | ≈ 22 years and 4 months |
| Paris | ≈ 21 years and 1 month |
| Bordeaux | ≈ 20 years and 1 month |
| Nice | ≈ 19 years and 3 months |
| Limoges | 4 years and 3 months |
| Saint-Étienne | 2 years and 1 month |
| Mulhouse | 1 year and 7 months |
| National average | 12 years and 3 months |
Key takeaway: the average break-even point fell from 15 years and 6 months in 2023 to 14 years and 8 months in 2024, then to 12 years and 3 months in the 2025 edition. Buying wins sooner again — but the gap between cities remains huge, from under 2 years in Mulhouse to more than 20 years in Paris and Aix-en-Provence alike.
Two cities, two verdicts: Paris versus Saint-Étienne
Profile: a 50 m² existing flat in Paris, bought for €490,000 on the basis of €9,800/m² (median price of existing flats, 2025 notarial data; Notaires du Grand Paris price map as of end May 2026). 10% deposit (€49,000), acquisition costs of about 8% (€39,200), €441,000 loan over 20 years at 3.22%.
On the other side, an equivalent 50 m² rents, according to the Paris conurbation rent observatory (OLAP), for an average of €26.30/m² in the private unfurnished stock as of 1 January 2025 — with rent control in force —, i.e. about €1,315 per month. The loan instalment, for its part, reaches about €2,490 excluding insurance — but comparing those two figures would be a mistake: from the very first instalment, more than half of it (≈ €1,310) repays capital, in other words forced savings. The real comparison is about sunk costs.
Scenario A — Paris, 50 m², year 1: the owner's sunk costs versus the rent
| Item | Calculation detail | Year-1 amount |
|---|---|---|
| Loan interest | ≈ 3.22% × €441,000 (20-year loan) | ≈ €14,200 |
| Borrower insurance | 0.20% × €441,000 | ≈ €880 |
| Opportunity cost of the deposit and fees | 2.6% × €88,200 (euro fund) | ≈ €2,290 |
| Maintenance (customary simulator assumption) | 0.5% × €490,000 | ≈ €2,450 |
| Owner total (excluding property tax and service charges) | — | ≈ €19,820 |
| Equivalent annual rent | €26.30/m² × 50 m² × 12 months | ≈ €15,780 |
| Owner's extra cost, year 1 | €19,820 − €15,780 | ≈ €4,040 |
In year one, the Parisian owner therefore "burns" about €4,040 more than the tenant — before even counting property tax and non-recoverable co-ownership charges. That gap closes slowly, as interest falls, the rent is indexed and the capital amortises: it takes about 21 years for buying to win according to the Meilleurtaux barometer. With a holding horizon of less than about twenty years, renting remains the financially winning option in the capital.
Scenario B — Saint-Étienne, 65 m²: when buying costs less than renting almost immediately
In Saint-Étienne, existing flats trade at around €1,250/m² at the median (2025 DVF/DGFiP data — DVF is the French public land-transactions database). For a 65 m² flat at €1,250/m², i.e. €81,250, acquisition costs of about 8% come to €6,500, and the instalment on a €73,125 loan (10% deposit) over 20 years at 3.22% works out at about €410 excluding insurance. The local rent observatory measures median rents of €6.40 to €8.60/m² depending on the zone — listing portals show more like €9 to €11/m² —, i.e. roughly €415 to €560 per month for the same floor area. Here, the instalment is in the same range as the rent from day one: the sunk costs of buying are absorbed very quickly, hence the break-even point of 2 years and 1 month measured by Meilleurtaux.
Before transposing these orders of magnitude to your own situation, check that the bank will follow: our guide on the salary needed to borrow €200,000 to €300,000 details the income required depending on the rate and the term.
The 4 mistakes that skew the buy-or-rent calculation
Mistake No. 1 — Comparing the instalment to the rent
It is the most common reflex, and it misleads both ways. An instalment contains amortised capital, which is savings, not a cost; a rent is entirely sunk, but the tenant keeps their deposit invested at 1.7% (Livret A) or 2.6% (euro funds). The only honest comparison adds up, on each side, the flows that build no wealth.
Mistake No. 2 — Believing the "8% notary fees" go to the notary
Most of the acquisition costs are tax: the DMTO represents 5.81% to 6.32% of the price depending on the department, while the notary's own fees account for only about 1%. And the rate is not uniform: first-time buyers remain taxed at 5.81% everywhere, and some departments may even reduce or exempt them by resolution (CGI, art. 1594 F septies), with no national price cap: check your department's resolution before locking in your financing plan.
Mistake No. 3 — Assuming the rent stays frozen for twenty years
An indexed rent follows the IRL: +1.15% year on year in Q2 2026, after several far more inflationary years. Compounded over twenty years, even moderate indexation widens the gap against a fixed-rate instalment, which never moves. Rent control protects tenants in around 70 municipalities, but it is an experiment running until November 2026, whose extension is still being debated.
Mistake No. 4 — Reasoning on the national average rather than your own holding period
The 12-years-and-3-months figure is true nowhere: neither in Paris (21 years and 1 month) nor in Saint-Étienne (2 years and 1 month). The only question that matters: how many years will you stay? A job relocation, a growing family, a separation — if your credible horizon is below the local break-even point, renting wins, whatever your attachment to bricks and mortar.
⚠️ Warning: selling before the break-even point means swallowing the full acquisition costs (≈ 8% of the price) without having amortised them. The capital-gains exemption on the main residence (CGI, art. 150 U, II-1°) creates no gain: with prices almost flat (+0.1% year on year in Q1 2026, Notaires-INSEE index), an early resale most often ends in a dry loss.
Work out your break-even point before you sign
Mon Simulateur Immobilier rent-or-buy comparator
Compare, year by year, the owner's wealth and that of a tenant who invests their deposit: your department's acquisition costs, loan interest and insurance, property tax, maintenance, a rent indexed to the IRL and the return on your savings. The simulator computes your personalised break-even point — the year from which buying wins — based on your city and your expected holding period.
To go further: the borrowing-capacity calculator to validate your budget, and the notary-fee calculator to cost the exact acquisition costs of your department.
Conclusion
In 2026, the buy-or-rent question no longer has a national answer. The average break-even point has fallen back to 12 years and 3 months, but it stretches from 2 years and 1 month in Saint-Étienne to 21 years and 1 month in Paris. The verdict depends on four measurable variables — acquisition costs, the return your deposit would earn elsewhere, the owner's charges and your rent's trajectory — and on a single personal variable: your holding period.
Confront your situation with figures rather than received ideas: the Mon Simulateur Immobilier rent-or-buy comparator computes your break-even point with your own parameters. And if you are hesitating between living in your purchase and investing, our guide to gross and net rental yield calculation completes the analysis on the investor's side.
