How can you find out real estate prices in the French overseas territories?

DVF: the public reference, available in most of the DROM

Since 2019, the tax authorities have published the "Demandes de valeurs foncières" (DVF) database, which lists real estate sales over the last five years with price, date, area and location (Article L. 112 A of the French Book of Tax Procedures). It covers Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion, but not Mayotte, whose land registration regime and land registry are still being aligned, nor the tax-autonomous overseas collectivities and New Caledonia.

DVF can be consulted free of charge via the land value data explorer (data.gouv.fr) or downloaded as raw data. The "Search real estate transactions" service in the personal area on impots.gouv.fr rests on comparable data, with similar coverage limits.

Reading DVF with caution in the overseas territories

The data exists, but it must be read differently than in mainland France: overseas markets are narrower and more heterogeneous.

• Narrow markets: in many overseas municipalities, the low number of sales makes averages barely meaningful; reason by comparable property, not by an average municipal price per square meter.
• Extreme heterogeneity: a tourist coast, urban centers, informal settlement areas and the hinterland can coexist within the same municipality with values bearing no relation to one another.
• Weight of tax-reduced new-build: deliveries linked to tax schemes may have concentrated supply on certain segments; a price paid off-plan (VEFA) with a tax reduction does not always reflect the resale value.
• Atypical sales: co-ownership, land regularizations and transfers between relatives can distort local statistics.

The other reliable sources

Cross-referencing several official and professional sources is essential on shallow markets.

• Notaries: local practices hold the finest sale references; the quarterly Notaires-INSEE indices, by contrast, cover mainland France.
• INSEE and local institutes: INSEE publishes studies on housing in the DROM; in French Polynesia (ISPF) and New Caledonia (ISEE), the local statistical institutes take over.
• DEAL: the directorates for the environment, planning and housing publish studies on housing, construction and rents in each DROM.
• Local rent observatories: several overseas urban areas are covered by the observatory network supported by ANIL; useful for gauging a market rent.

Special cases: Mayotte and the Pacific collectivities

In Mayotte, the absence of DVF requires relying on notaries, local professionals and public studies (DEAL, INSEE). The caution is twofold: price data is scarce, and securing the property title there is an absolute prerequisite to any discussion of value (see our guide on the legal specifics of buying in the overseas territories).

In French Polynesia, New Caledonia and the other collectivities, the markets fall under local rules and the national databases do not apply. Go through a notary and locally established professionals, and rely on the statistics published by the local institutes.

Method for estimating a property in the overseas territories

A serious estimate in the overseas territories combines public data, local expertise and consideration of the extra costs specific to these territories.

• Cross-reference at least three sources: DVF where available, the opinion of a notary or a local agent, comparable listings currently on the market.
• Adjust for the factors specific to the overseas territories: cyclonic and seismic exposure, insurance cost, condition of the construction (marine corrosion, termites), accessibility.
• Factor in the real cost of ownership: maintenance raised by the climate, remote management, possible vacancy outside tight areas.
• Beware of online automated estimators: their reliability drops sharply on shallow and heterogeneous markets.