PRESTIGE REAL ESTATE: BETWEEN ADVERTISED PRICES AND CLOSED SALES

In the high-end sector, the discrepancies between listing prices and actual transaction prices are still very significant.
A difference of 20% can be considered common. However, differences in excess of 40% or even 60% are still all too common.

Analysis of the latest data from the DVF database highlights several representative cases. Some advertisements, archived for reference purposes, already showed unusually high price levels at the time of publication.
The discrepancy between these initial amounts and the prices actually obtained on sale illustrates the persistent overvaluation of many properties.

A few examples:

📉 Moulins du Villars / Gilette: €11.5m posted ➔ €7.9m sold (-30%)

📉 Les Roches / Cap d'Antibes: €21 M posted ➔ €13.9 M (-33%).

📉 Mareeba / Cap Ferrat: €30 M announced ➔ €16.5 M realized (-45%).

📉 Tanneron property: 15 M€ requested ➔ 7 M€ concluded (-55%).

📉 Rio / Cap d'Antibes: 28 M€ posted ➔ 12 M€ signed (-60%).

This phenomenon also extends to auctions, where several properties remained unsold despite very significant price reductions.
In some cases, the level of discount exceeded 60%, without succeeding in triggering buyer interest.

📉 Villa Romana / Villefranche: 28 M€ ➔ unsold at 12 M€ (gap > 60%).

📉 Alang Alang / Cannes: 69 M€ ➔ unsold at 30 M€ (gap > 60%)

Valuing prestige real estate remains a complex exercise. Each property presents unique characteristics, and comparable references are rare. Nevertheless, methodologies do exist to provide a framework for value analysis, limit bias and secure decisions.
A negotiation margin of between 10% and 20% can be justified in exceptional circumstances. Beyond that, the difference between the advertised price and the actual value generally reflects an unrealistic positioning, often based on the hypothetical expectation of an out-of-the-ordinary buyer. However, such profiles - very common during the oligarch era - have become rare.

Today's buyers, often from the financial or technology sectors, adopt a rational approach. Their investment strategy is based on long-term valuation, price consistency and qualitative scarcity, not on emotion or ostentation.
Against this backdrop, the question arises: should we wait for the market itself to correct excesses through the absence of offers or visits? And if this wait ends up devaluing the asset, isn't it counter-productive?

The challenge is to strike a balance between commercial attractiveness, respect for the seller's expectations, and market reality. Expertise in this sector cannot be limited to dressing up a property. It must also involve strategic positioning from the outset.

A desire to seduce at all costs can sometimes end up compromising the sale itself. And in prestige real estate, a fair estimate is often the best differentiation strategy.