Buying in French overseas departments: prices, tax, PTZ

Knowing prices: DVF, except in Mayotte

The DGFiP’s “Demandes de valeurs foncières” (DVF) file lists transactions over the last five years, taken from notarial deeds and the land register, for “mainland France and the overseas departments and territories, with the exception of Alsace, Moselle and Mayotte”. It is updated in April and October; the date of the latest update is shown on the dataset page (data.gouv.fr).

Our département pages use this data: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane (French Guiana), La Réunion and Mayotte, the last without DVF data.

Notary’s fees: transfer duties in the DROM

For older properties, the frais de notaire (notary’s fees and purchase costs) include transfer duties, whose département rate is voted by each département or authority. At 1 June 2026, the DGFiP schedule shows:

According to the DGFiP, the “not a first-time buyer” column corresponds to the rates applicable under II of article 116 of Finance Act no. 2025-127 for 2025; Guadeloupe and Mayotte show only one rate, 4.50%. The full calculation of costs, with the municipal tax and the notary’s fees, is on each département’s page.

PTZ: communes classed A or B1

The PTZ depends on the A, B, C zoning, defined in article D304-1 of the Code de la construction et de l’habitation (Construction and Housing Code). According to the Ministry of Housing, zone A includes “10 communes in the overseas départements where rents and housing prices are very high”, and zone B1 “the communes in the overseas départements not classed in zone A”.

Source: official list of communes, zoning in force since 26 June 2026.

Two consequences. First, the PTZ for an older property with renovation work requires a commune “located in zone B2 or C” (service-public.gouv.fr, checked on 15 September 2026): no commune in the DROM is eligible. Second, the income ceilings are those for zones A and B1: for a single person, €49,000 in zone A and €34,500 in zone B1; for two people, €73,500 and €51,750. The details are in our guide du PTZ 2026 (2026 interest-free loan guide).

Overseas tax breaks: what remains open

The DGFiP’s 2026 tax brochure (2025 income) sets out the position:

• Pinel outre-mer: it covered investments until 31 December 2024, “the end of the eligibility period for the Pinel scheme”. For an investment made in 2024, the reduction was 20% over 6 years or 23% over 9 years. It is no longer open to new purchases.
• Overseas “housing” reduction (CGI, the General Tax Code, art. 199 undecies A): extended until 31 December 2029 “only” for renovation works and strengthening against seismic or cyclone risk on homes completed more than 20 years ago, carried out by a contractor. The rate is 18%, raised to 22% with a renewable energy source, 26% in a quartier prioritaire (priority urban neighbourhood), 29% with both. The reduction is spread over 5 years.
• Overseas social housing (art. 199 undecies C): in the overseas départements, it only applies to investments whose approval application was received by 24 September 2018 at the latest; it remains open until 2029 in certain overseas collectivités (Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy, Wallis and Futuna).

All these reductions are capped, for 2025 income, at €30,600 or, by election, 11% of taxable income, with different ceilings for certain older investments.

Coast and risks: two specific features

The fifty geometric paces. The 100-metre coastal strip of the loi Littoral (Coastal Law) does not apply in Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, La Réunion or Mayotte: the strip known as the cinquante pas géométriques (fifty geometric paces) follows its own rules there (code de l’urbanisme, the Planning Code, art. L121-45 to L121-49; DGALN sheet). Before buying by the sea, you therefore need to check the exact status of the land.

Greater natural risks. Seismic risk is highest in Guadeloupe and Martinique, which lie on the boundary between two plates; volcanic eruptions affect three overseas départements, and cyclones all intertropical areas (Ministry of Ecological Transition). Any zone of seismicity level 2 to 5 requires an état des risques (risk report) for both sales and lettings (service-public.gouv.fr): see our guide on the état des risques (ERP) (risk report).

Which professional to consult

The notaire (notary) calculates the département’s transfer duties and checks the status of land near the shore. The géomètre-expert (chartered surveyor) can mark out the boundaries of a seafront plot. The courtier en crédit (mortgage broker) checks PTZ eligibility according to the commune’s zone, and the agent immobilier (estate agent) can place you in relation to DVF prices for the area.