This paper estimates the effects of an increase in the share of the real estate transfer taxes (RETT) rates going to the French départements from 3.80% to 4.50%. Not all the départements voted the RETT increase on the same date, which is the starting point of a natural experiment. Using a difference-in-differences design, we estimate two main effects. (1) An anticipation effect, one month before the implementation of the reform, in order to avoid the RETT increase. (2) A retention effect in the post-reform period. In the end, the net effect (retention minus anticipation) corresponds to an average drop in transactions of around 6% over the first three months after the reform, that is, approximately 15,000 transactions lost at national level. If we find a short term effect of the reform, we do not find evidence of a medium or long term effect.

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Bérard, G. & Trannoy, A. (2018). The impact of a rise in the real estate transfer taxes on the French housing market. Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, 500-501-502, 179–200.
https://doi.org/10.24187/ecostat.2018.500t.1951