The calculator shown on each of our listings uses an average rate. This page says exactly where that rate comes from, how often we take the reading, why your own rate will differ, and what we advise — broker or bank, and why. We do not sell credit: we explain what our clients actually meet.
Scales published in early September 2026 by four national brokerage networks, based on loans signed in August. Excluding borrower insurance — that is the convention, and it is also why an advertised rate always looks lower than what you will actually pay.
| Network | 15 years | 20 years | 25 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cafpi | 3,23 % | 3,43 % | 3,53 % |
| Meilleurtaux | 3,28 % | 3,40 % | 3,50 % |
| Vousfinancer | 3,40 % | 3,50 % | 3,60 % |
| Pretto | 3,43 % | 3,54 % | 3,61 % |
| Average — this is the figure we use | 3,33 % | 3,47 % | 3,56 % |
| Gap between the best and the worst scale | 0,20 pt | 0,14 pt | 0,11 pt |
Source: the survey of brokerage scales published by MoneyVox on 2 September 2026. Nominal rates excluding insurance, arrangement fees and guarantee costs. These are national averages: neither offers nor commitments.
Average rate across all terms over the whole French market. Lower than our 20-year average, because it includes short loans and the strongest applications.
That is 21 years. It is why we set the calculator to 20 years by default: it is the term closest to the reality of the market.
Source: Observatoire Crédit Logement / CSA, August 2026 release.
A figure with no source and no date is worth nothing. Here is exactly what we do, every month, to keep the rate in the calculator honest.
We take the scales the major brokerage networks publish on loans signed the previous month. They are the only public, regular, comparable data in the French market. Banks do not publish their own scales.
Not the lowest rate: a headline rate reaches only a minority of applications. The average of several networks is more honest, and we publish the minimum and the maximum too so you can see the room to negotiate.
The month of the reading is written in the calculator and on this page. If that date is more than six weeks old, treat the figure as indicative and ask us for an update.
It is the reference observatory, fed by the loan-guarantee bodies. It acts as a control: if our average drifts far from it, something is wrong somewhere.
Two buyers purchasing the same property in the same month do not get the same rate. Here is what moves the dial, in the order of importance we see.
This is the first lever. A deposit that covers the purchase costs (about 8 %) is the minimum expected; at 20 % and above, the rate improves markedly.
A confirmed permanent contract, public-sector employment, or two to three years of accounts if you are self-employed. It is not the amount that counts most, it is the regularity.
What is left once the monthly payment is made. Two applications at 33 % debt ratio are not equal if one has 1 200 € left to live on and the other 3 500 €.
It affects the rate little, but the borrower insurance a great deal — and that weighs on the monthly payment and on the 35 % calculation.
Salary paid into the account, savings transferred, insurance policies: the bank is selling a relationship, not just a loan. That is negotiable.
Banks have production targets. A bank behind on its quarterly target is noticeably more flexible. A broker knows which one that is right now; you do not.
Our advice fits in one line: do both, then compare the APR. Ask your own bank for a proposal, and a broker for another. That is ten days of work for, often, several thousand euros.
| Going through a broker | Going straight to your bank | |
|---|---|---|
| Banks approached | Several at once, with their scales for the week | One, the one you already know |
| Knowledge of the market | Knows which bank is hunting for business this month — the most useful information, and the hardest to get on your own | No visibility of the competition |
| How the application is presented | Builds the file in the format the credit committee expects, which avoids refusals on form | You present it yourself |
| Borrower insurance | Negotiated separately (délégation d’assurance, using an outside insurer): this is often where the largest saving sits | Usually the bank’s group policy, which costs more |
| Your history and savings with them | Count for less | Genuinely weigh if you are a long-standing client with savings held there |
| Banks out of reach | Some regional and mutual banks do not work with brokers | You can reach them directly |
| Cost | Fees of roughly 1 to 3 % of the amount borrowed, sometimes a flat fee. The bank also pays the broker. | No brokerage fee, but bank arrangement fees either way |
| When do you pay? | Never before the funds are actually released. A broker who asks for a deposit, a reservation cheque or a study fee before the loan is paid out is breaking the law: articles L. 322-2 of the consumer code and L. 519-6 of the monetary and financial code. If a loan does not complete, you owe nothing. | |
A broker is paid both by you and by the bank that grants the loan. That is not a scandal, it is how the trade works — but it is one more reason to compare the offers yourself rather than rely on the commentary that comes with them.
The name is misleading. Of what is called notary fees, about 80 % is tax paid to the department, the commune and the State. The notaire keeps a small share, and the scale is set by decree: it is not negotiable, and it is the same in every firm in France.
| Component | 2026 rate in Haute-Savoie | Who receives it |
|---|---|---|
| Departmental registration duty | 5,00 % | The department of Haute-Savoie |
| Additional communal tax | 1,20 % | The commune |
| Assessment and collection charge | 0,12 % | The State |
| Sub-total — transfer duties (DMTO) | 6,32 % | — |
| Notaire’s fees (tapered scale, 20 % VAT included) | about 1.1 % on 300 000 € | The notaire’s firm |
| Property security contribution | 0,10 % | The State |
| Disbursements (planning documents, civil status, land registry…) | about 1 200 to 1 400 € | Paid out by the notaire, recharged at cost |
The departmental duty rose from 4.50 % to 5.00 % on 1 April 2025, for three years, under the 2025 finance act which allowed departments to raise their rate by 0.5 of a point. Three departments in four voted the increase; Haute-Savoie voted it, Ain did not. Fee scale: 3.870 % up to 6 500 €, 1.596 % from 6 500 to 17 000 €, 1.064 % from 17 000 to 60 000 €, 0.799 % above that, excluding VAT.
| Purchase price | Older property, standard case | Older property, first-time buyer | New build or off-plan (VEFA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 000 € | about 23 900 € — 7.97 % | about 22 400 € — 7.46 % | about 6 000 to 9 000 € |
| 500 000 € | about 38 700 € — 7.73 % | about 36 100 € — 7.22 % | about 10 000 to 15 000 € |
| 699 000 € (réf. 223 CP) | about 53 400 € — 7.63 % | about 49 800 € — 7.12 % | — |
If you are buying your main home and were not the owner of your main home in the previous two years, the departmental duty stays at 4.50 % — 5.81 % of transfer duty instead of 6.32 %. On a 300 000 € purchase that is about 1 500 € saved.
Two conditions: not having owned your main home in the previous two years, and undertaking to live in the property for at least five years. These are checked with the notaire at signature — it is the notaire who applies the rate, not us.
In a French property sale the buyer has the right to choose their own notaire, even if the seller already has one. Many buyers give that up, believing the fees would double. They do not.
The two notaires share the fees set by the scale: roughly 70 % for the firm that draws up the deed, roughly 30 % for the second. The buyer pays exactly the same sum as if there were only one. The split is a matter between the two firms.
Why this matters here in particular: a share of our buyers come from abroad. You can choose a firm that works in English, or simply a notaire you know and trust, without paying a euro more. You just have to say so before the preliminary contract is signed.
Source: information published by the Notaires de France (efficience.notaires.fr): « the fees are not doubled », « the buyer pays the same fees as if there were only one notaire ». The split between the drafting firm and the second firm is provided for by the regulated tariff.
The only real effect: the timetable can stretch by a few days while the two firms exchange documents. So say it at the outset.
Since 2022, French banks have applied rules set by the Haut Conseil de stabilité financière, the financial stability board. These are not recommendations: they are binding limits, with a measured margin of flexibility.
Total monthly payment ÷ net income, borrower insurance included. That detail is what takes many applications from 34 % to 36 % without the borrower seeing it coming.
27 years is possible where works represent at least 10 % of the cost of the operation, or on a new build with a delivery period.
Each bank may depart from the rules on 20 % of its quarterly lending. That margin goes first to first-time buyers and to main homes.
Source: the rules of the Haut Conseil de stabilité financière, in force since January 2022 and applying in 2026. The judgement criteria that follow the three thresholds are those we see in our clients’ applications: they vary from one bank to another.
People negotiate the rate for weeks and sign the insurance without reading it. It should generally be the other way round: a few tenths of a point on the rate are hard to win, while the insurance can vary threefold.
This is délégation d’assurance: you have the right to put forward an outside policy, provided the cover is equivalent. The bank cannot refuse on that ground alone, nor change its rate in retaliation.
The Lemoine act of 2022 allows you to cancel and replace borrower insurance at any point in the loan, free of charge. Even if you signed the bank’s policy to move quickly, nothing is final.
The same act removes the health questionnaire where the insured share does not exceed 200 000 € per borrower and the loan ends before the borrower turns 60.
Insurance counts in the HCSF debt ratio and in the APR. An expensive policy can therefore get an application refused on its own — which is why our calculator includes it in the monthly payment shown.
The 0.34 % a year insurance rate used by default in the calculator is an order of magnitude for a borrower around forty with no medical history. It can be markedly lower before 35 and markedly higher after 55. The field can be changed.
A complete file at the first meeting saves two to three weeks. That is often the difference between an offer accepted and an offer lost.
A list drawn from our clients’ applications. Every bank has its own: this covers the common core. We collect none of these documents and have no need of them — they go to the broker or the bank, not to the agency.
Allow three to four months between the preliminary contract and final signature. Here is where that time goes, and the legal periods that cannot be compressed.
The property is reserved. The notaire is instructed and prepares the preliminary contract.
At the notaire’s. Obtaining the loan appears as a condition precedent, with a period usually set at 45 to 60 days.
Ten days during which you may withdraw without reason and without cost. A legal period, and fixed.
The tightest part of the process. It is the one a complete file shortens most.
You receive the offer in writing and cannot accept it before the eleventh day. Another fixed legal period.
Funds released, costs paid, keys handed over.
Legal periods: ten days to withdraw after notification of the preliminary contract, and ten days’ reflection on the loan offer (acceptance possible from the eleventh). The other durations are orders of magnitude seen in our own files in the Pays du Mont-Blanc.
We work regularly with notaires’ firms and brokers in Sallanches, Passy, Saint-Gervais and Megève. Ask us and we will point you to one, including a firm that can deal with you in English.
3.33 % over 15 years, 3.47 % over 20 years and 3.56 % over 25 years, excluding insurance. That is the average of four national brokerage networks taken in early September 2026, on loans signed in August. Across all terms, the Observatoire Crédit Logement / CSA recorded 3.31 % in August 2026.
About 7.6 to 8 % of the price on an older property, depending on the amount: transfer duties come to 6.32 % since the department raised its registration duty to 5.00 % on 1 April 2025. For a first-time buyer purchasing their main home that increase does not apply: duties stay at 5.81 %, so roughly 7.1 to 7.5 % in total. On a new build, allow 2 to 3 %.
No. The fees are shared between the two firms, roughly 70 % to the one drawing up the deed and 30 % to the second. The buyer pays the same total as if there were only one. You simply need to say so before the preliminary contract is signed.
Both, then compare the APRs. The broker approaches several banks at once and negotiates the insurance separately, which often matters more than the rate itself. Your own bank can give weight to your history and your savings, and some regional banks do not deal with brokers at all. A broker may charge you nothing before the funds are actually released.
At the very least enough to cover the purchase costs, about 8 % of the price in Haute-Savoie on an older property. From 20 % upwards the terms improve markedly. Keeping a cash reserve after the purchase counts almost as much as the size of the deposit itself.
No, apart from one exception: the HCSF rule caps the term at 25 years, extended to 27 where works represent at least 10 % of the cost of the operation. Each bank also has a margin to depart from the rules on 20 % of its lending, reserved first for first-time buyers.
We apply to this page the rule we apply across the site: a figure we publish is a figure you can go and check.
| Figure | Value | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average rate 15 / 20 / 25 years | 3,33 % · 3,47 % · 3,56 % | Average of four brokerage networks (Cafpi, Meilleurtaux, Vousfinancer, Pretto), MoneyVox survey | 2 September 2026 |
| Average rate, all terms | 3,31 % | Observatoire Crédit Logement / CSA | August 2026 |
| Average loan term | 252 months | Observatoire Crédit Logement / CSA | August 2026 |
| Haute-Savoie departmental duty | 5,00 % | Departmental resolution, 2025 finance act | In force since 1 April 2025 |
| Total transfer duty, Haute-Savoie | 6.32 % · 5.81 % for an eligible first-time buyer | 5.00 % + 1.20 % + assessment charge | 2026 |
| Notaire’s fee scale | 3,870 / 1,596 / 1,064 / 0,799 % | Regulated notaries’ tariff, excluding VAT | In force in 2026 |
| Two notaires: fees not doubled | Split of roughly 70 / 30 | Notaires de France | Consulted 27 September 2026 |
| HCSF limits | 35 % · 25 years · 20 % of lending exempt | Haut Conseil de stabilité financière | Applicable since 2022 |
| Paying the broker | Prohibited before funds are released | Consumer code art. L. 322-2; monetary and financial code art. L. 519-6 | In force |
| Borrower insurance: cancel at any time, health questionnaire removed subject to conditions | ≤ 200 000 € per borrower, loan ending before age 60 | Lemoine act | 2022 |
Brokerage rates are national averages and do not constitute an offer. Purchase-cost amounts are estimates: only the notaire calculates the real costs, and only the notaire applies the first-time-buyer regime. This page is for information and is not contractual. Swixim Sallanches is not a credit intermediary.
Tell us what you are looking for and your budget: we will tell you frankly what it buys today between Sallanches and Megève, and what it does not.
