In a recent column, economist Jean-Pierre Robin explains why Paris property prices remain among the world's highest. Despite a 10% drop from their 2020 peak, the average cost is still prohibitive, making homeownership extremely challenging. Paris shares this status with Hong Kong in terms of price-to-income ratios.
Economist Jean-Pierre Robin, in his column published on November 23, 2025, in Le Figaro, highlights the reasons behind Paris's stratospheric property prices. He notes that Paris, alongside Hong Kong, is one of the world's least accessible places for homeownership, assessed by the ratio of prices to household incomes.
The economist references a recent statement by Emmanuel Macron, made during the previous week's Council of Ministers: « Sometimes the bourgeois of city centers who finance narcotraffickers », referring to drug consumers, to illustrate the law of supply and demand. Applied to real estate, this law simply accounts for high prices: there are buyers with the necessary financial means.
According to data from the Chambre des notaires d'Île-de-France, in the third quarter of 2025, the average price per square meter for an apartment in intra-muros Paris stands at 9,772 euros, down 10% from the November 2020 peak. This median amount, which splits the market in half, underscores the ongoing strong demand despite recent market adjustments.
Robin emphasizes that this dynamic is unsurprising in a context where limited supply meets an affluent clientele, thus perpetuating inaccessibility for most Parisians.