Market value.
Market value as defined by the French Valuation Charter, and the five methods that establish it.
What market value is.
Market value is the amount for which a property should exchange on a given date, between willing and informed parties, after proper marketing. It is neither an asking price nor an average price for the area. It is a demonstration, built in accordance with the French Property Valuation Charter and the RICS and TEGoVA standards.
Depending on the property and the context, whether estate, IFI, financing or litigation, we cross-check several approaches and explain every assumption.
All the definitions, in the glossaryComparison
Real transactions, adjusted for their differences: the method of choice when comparables exist, and an art in itself when they are scarce.
Income capitalisation
The rent divided by a rate reflecting risk and liquidity: the method for income-producing properties.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
Projected income discounted year by year: for complex assets and evolving lease structures.
Residual method
From the revenue of a future scheme to the acceptable land cost: the method for land and redevelopable buildings.
Replacement cost
Land plus construction, less depreciation: for properties with no market, such as facilities and highly specialised assets.
What we are really asked.
An estimate is a quick opinion, often free, that does not commit its author. A valuation is a demonstration: standardised methods, verifiable comparables, explicit assumptions, conclusions signed by a valuer who answers for them. Before a notary, the tax authorities or a judge, only the latter carries weight.
No. Transaction databases give agreed prices, without stating the condition of the property, the floor, the terms of the sale or the actual date it was negotiated. They are a starting material. Market value, by contrast, results from reasoned adjustments to genuinely comparable references.
A value is dated: it holds at its valuation date. In a stable market, a report remains informative for six to twelve months; after a market turn or works, it needs to be updated. That is also why we write reports whose reasoning remains verifiable years later.
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