How to read the Enchèria score and the hammer price estimate

For each sale, Enchèria shows an estimated market value, a discount, a range and a probable hammer price, then a score from 0 to 100 that sums them up. This guide explains how each of these figures is obtained, all the more since none of them replaces the visit or a reading of the conditions of sale: they are benchmarks drawn from past sales, which help sort the sales on offer and prepare the meeting with the lawyer, not a valuation of the property itself.

Market value and discount

The market value is estimated from the DVF data (demandes de valeurs foncières), published by the French public finance directorate, which lists property sales over recent years. Enchèria keeps the sales of properties of the same type, flat or house, located within 500 metres of the property for sale, calculates their median price per square metre and multiplies it by the surface of the property. When fewer than five comparable sales are available, no value is shown rather than an unreliable estimate.

The discount then relates the gap between this value and the starting price to the value itself. A starting price of €140,000 for a property estimated at €249,600 thus shows a discount of 44%, which says nothing yet about the price at which the property will be awarded, since bidding starts from the starting price and usually goes beyond it.

Probable hammer price and its range

Awards made by the courts also appear in the DVF data, which makes it possible to see at what price properties sold at auction actually found a buyer. When at least five awards of properties of the same type took place within two kilometres, the probable hammer price is obtained by applying their median price per square metre to the surface of the property. Failing that, Enchèria uses the ratio observed in the département between hammer prices and market prices, provided it rests on at least ten awards, and applies it to the estimated market value.

The same departmental ratio gives the low and high ends of the estimate, and none of these values falls below the starting price, since an award cannot be made below it. The range therefore gives the order of magnitude of the prices already reached in the area, and the probable price its central value, without accounting for the number of bidders present on the day of the hearing, which remains the main unknown.

The score and its three pillars

The Enchèria score adds up three pillars, each scored from 0 to 100 and then weighted. The appeal of the property counts for 40% and depends on two criteria, the occupation of the property, which accounts for 58% of it, and its type, which accounts for 42%, so that a flat or house with vacant possession reaches the maximum for this pillar. As long as the occupation or the type of the property remains unknown, this pillar is not scored, which is not the same as giving it a score of zero, and the overall score is then not calculated. The market discount also counts for 40% and combines the discount of the starting price and, for a larger share, that of the probable hammer price; a discount far beyond the strongest observed in the area, however, lowers this pillar, as it more often signals a defect in the property or in the information than a bargain. Rental pressure, finally, counts for 20% and reflects the level of rents in the town, graded in five levels from the rent map published on data.gouv.fr.

Each pillar follows a curve that flattens as it rises, so it caps at around 80, and so does the overall score. The score is therefore read in bands rather than points: a score below 40 marks a weak opportunity, a score between 40 and 64 a fair opportunity, worth studying closely, and a score of 65 or more an excellent opportunity, to follow first.

What the figures do not measure

An estimate remains a median, drawn from properties comparable by type and location, so it takes no account of the condition of the property, its floor, the work to be done, or the charges and easements revealed by the conditions of sale. Enchèria reproduces neither these conditions of sale, nor the descriptive report, nor the photos of the property, which therefore play no part in the score and can be consulted on the original listing or with the lawyer acting for the seizing creditor. The score, moreover, measures the interest of an opportunity, not its yield, which the app’s simulator estimates from the probable hammer price. These figures therefore serve to spot the sales worth examining, then to agree with the lawyer on a maximum bid with full knowledge of the facts, the visit and a reading of the conditions of sale remaining essential before any decision.