Buying in Paris vs Australia: costs compared

France doesn't care which passport you hold when you buy. It cares how much you borrow against your income, and it sends almost every buyer the same big notaire bill.

The short version

Foreigners can buy any type of property in France, with no approval, quota or surcharge.
The single biggest cost difference: the "frais de notaire" on an older Paris apartment, mostly transfer duties, which run at about 7% to 8% of the price [1][2]. NSW transfer duty on a A$1 million home is about 3.9% [8].
French banks follow strict rules: repayments capped at 35% of income and loans of no more than 25 years for most borrowers [3].
Owners pay taxe foncière every year; Paris raised its rate to 20.50% in 2023 [5].
Sell your Paris main residence and the gain is tax-free. Sell an Australian property as a foreign resident and you face withholding and lose the main residence exemption [9][10].

Can an Australian buy in France?

Yes. France has no foreign ownership regime for homes. With a talent passport, a working holiday visa or no visa at all, you can buy a studio in the Marais or a two-bedder in the 11th on the same footing as a French citizen.

The process is the same for everyone and runs through a notaire, a public official who drafts and registers the deed:

Offer. A written offer, often at or below the asking price.
Compromis de vente. The preliminary contract, with a deposit, usually around 5% to 10%, held in escrow.
Cooling off. You have 10 days after signing to withdraw without penalty.
Loan condition. Most contracts are conditional on your loan being approved within an agreed period.
Acte de vente. The final deed, typically two to three months later, when you pay the balance and the notaire's costs and get the keys.

A French or other EU passport doesn't change your purchase taxes. The one status that helps is being a first-time buyer of your main residence, explained below.

Upfront costs side by side

Rates as at November 2026. Euro converted at the RBA rate of €0.6228 per Australian dollar on 5 November 2026 (€1 is about A$1.61).

Cost	Paris	Buying back home (as an Australian living abroad)
Purchase tax / stamp duty	Transfer duties (DMTO): a departmental rate of up to 5%, plus a 1.20% additional tax and a collection charge of 2.37% of the departmental share, about 6.3% in total [1][2]. New builds bought from a developer pay a reduced duty, so total fees are about 2% to 3% [2]	NSW transfer duty: A$11,602 plus 4.5% of the value over A$387,000, up to A$1.29 million (2026–27) [8]. Other states differ
Foreign buyer surcharge or additional duty	None. First-time buyers of a main residence are spared the 2025 increase and pay the earlier rate, about 5.8% in total [1][7]	None for Australian citizens in NSW, wherever they live [8]
Legal or notary fees	Regulated notaire fees on a sliding scale: 3.870% on the first €6,500, falling to 0.799% above €60,000, plus VAT; disbursements of a few hundred euro; property security contribution of 0.10% [2]	Conveyancer or solicitor, typically a few thousand dollars
Buyer's agent / commission	Agency fees are often built into the advertised price ("frais d'agence inclus") or charged to the buyer as stated in the listing	Optional buyer's agent; common for overseas buyers
Registration and other fees	Included in the notaire's costs	Transfer and mortgage registration fees of a few hundred dollars, plus building and pest reports
Loan fees	Bank arrangement fee, a loan guarantee (caution or mortgage) and borrower insurance, which banks generally require	Application and valuation fees; lenders mortgage insurance above 80% LVR

The phrase "frais de notaire" misleads people. Only around one euro in seven goes to the notaire; the bulk is tax collected for the département and the state [2].

The 5% departmental rate is new. A 2025 law let départements raise their rate by 0.5 point for a limited period from 1 April 2025 to 2028, and the Conseil de Paris voted to do so [1][7]. People who didn't own their main residence in the two years before signing, and who will live in the new place, are exempt from the increase [1].

Getting a loan

In Paris

French banks lend to foreign residents with French income, and the rules they follow are some of the strictest in Europe. Under the Haut Conseil de stabilité financière (HCSF) standard, binding since 1 January 2022, your loan repayments can't exceed 35% of your income and the loan term is capped at 25 years [3]. Banks can depart from these rules for up to 20% of new loans, mostly reserved for main-residence buyers [3].

The French approach looks at affordability, not a loan-to-value ceiling. In practice many banks expect you to pay at least the notaire costs from savings, and those on a short contract or probationary period find doors closing. A permanent contract (CDI) carries real weight.

Non-residents can borrow in France too, but with fewer lenders and bigger deposits.

Back home

Australian lenders treat your euro salary as foreign income: they discount part of it and usually cap the LVR lower than for local borrowers. As an Australian citizen buying in your own name, you don't need FIRB approval and pay no NSW foreign surcharge [8]. Our guides to foreign income and deposits cover it in depth.

Holding costs

	Paris	Australia (NSW example)
Annual property tax	Taxe foncière, paid by the owner. The Paris municipal rate rose from 13.50% to 20.50% in 2023, applied to an administrative rental value of the property that the state indexes each year [5]	Council rates; land tax on investment property above the NSW threshold. Your home is usually exempt
Second-home tax	Taxe d'habitation still applies to second homes, and many towns in tight housing markets add a surcharge	Not applicable
Building costs	Copropriété (strata) charges, plus your share of building works voted at the annual meeting	Strata levies for units, building insurance for houses
Tax on rent	Taxed at progressive income tax rates, plus social charges. Unfurnished rents under €15,000 a year can use the simplified micro-foncier regime with a 30% allowance	Foreign residents pay 30% from the first dollar on Australian rent up to A$135,000 (2025–26)

Renting out a Paris flat comes with rules Australians rarely expect: rent caps in Paris, limits on short-stay letting of your main home, and a ban on new leases for the least energy-efficient homes under the French energy rating. Check the DPE rating before you buy anything you might let.

Real estate worth more than €1.3 million (net of debt) can also bring wealth tax on property, the IFI. Once you're French resident, your Australian property counts towards that threshold.

If you're tax resident in France, France taxes your worldwide income, so Australian rent belongs on your French return, with the France–Australia tax treaty preventing double tax. If you're still an Australian resident, Australia taxes your worldwide income, Paris rent included.

Selling and tax

Paris

Your main residence is exempt from capital gains tax when you sell it. Other property is taxed at 19% income tax plus social charges of 17.2% for most sellers, with an allowance for each year you've owned it. The income tax part disappears entirely after 22 years and the social charges after 30 [4]. A surtax applies on large gains. Currency moves can make a euro gain look bigger or smaller in dollars, but France taxes the gain in euro.

Australia

Sell an Australian property while you're a foreign resident and you generally lose the main residence exemption, even for the years it was your home, unless the narrow life events test applies [10]. Since 1 January 2025, the buyer must withhold 15% of the price unless you hand over an ATO clearance certificate by settlement, which foreign residents can't get [9]. The May 2026 federal Budget also proposed replacing the 50% CGT discount with indexation and a 30% minimum tax for gains from 1 July 2027, subject to legislation.

A worked example

Illustration only. We use €620,000 for an older two-bedroom Paris apartment, about A$995,500 at the 5 November 2026 RBA rate. At €9,530 per square metre, the average for older Paris apartments in February to April 2026 [6], that buys about 65 square metres. We compare it with a A$1,000,000 NSW home. Bank and guarantee fees are left out because they vary.

Upfront cost	Paris, standard buyer	Paris, first-time buyer of a main residence	NSW, Australian citizen abroad
Transfer duties	about €39,170 [1][2]	about €36,000 [1]	Transfer duty A$39,187 [8]
Notaire's regulated fee incl. VAT	about €6,420 [2]	about €6,420	Conveyancing not included
Security contribution and disbursements	about €1,020 [2]	about €1,020	Not included
Total	about €46,600 (about A$74,800)	about €43,400 (about A$69,800)	A$39,187

How we got there: duties of 6.3185% (5% + 1.20% + 2.37% of 5%) or, for first-time buyers, 5.80665% (4.5% + 1.20% + 2.37% of 4.5%). The notaire's fee follows the regulated scale [2] plus 20% VAT. The security contribution is 0.10% of the price, and we've allowed €400 for disbursements. NSW: A$11,602 plus 4.5% of A$613,000.

Paris costs nearly twice as much to buy into as NSW for the same budget, but there's no foreign surcharge on either side.

Which suits whom

There's no right answer. Weigh these factors:

Time horizon. At 7% to 8% on the way in, a Paris purchase needs years to pay off. Short stays favour renting.
Job security. French banks prize a permanent contract. Without one, the Australian loan may be easier to get.
Whether you'll move home. An Australian property can be your landing pad later; check the main residence rules before selling as a foreign resident.
Letting rules. Rent caps, energy ratings and short-stay limits all shape what a Paris investment can earn.
Inheritance. French succession law protects children's shares of an estate, and choosing Australian law for your will doesn't remove every French rule. Get advice in both countries.

Want to hear how other Australians managed the notaire and the bank? Join Cooee France, our Facebook group for Australians in France, at /join/.

Buying in Paris vs back home: notaires, taxes and loans compared