Hi and welcome to the forum.

One thing you'll find in France is that the housing market (along with everything else) isn't as much about wheeling and dealing as it is in the US. A house isn't considered an investment, but more like a place to live. (Novel idea, no? ) And although most families do aspire to buying a home - there are plenty who expect to inherit the family manor when Mom and Dad die - and so they just wait it out. (The inheritance laws are a real mind bender at first, but kind of make sense in lots of ways once you get used to them.)

Taxes are kind of interesting. They've only fairly recently re-implemented the tax deduction for home mortgage interest - and there are limits to how much you can deduct. Mortgage payments are legally limited to roughly 30% of your income, so no incentive to buy a big oversized home that you can't afford.

Property tax is split into two parts - one levied against the owner of the property, the other against the occupant. (If you live in a house you own, you pay both parts.)
Cheers,
Bev