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L’influence des agents immobiliers sur les prix du logement

The influence of real estate agents on housing prices

Nicolas Siounandan (2024)

Thèse en sciences économiques soutenue le 28 novembre 2024 à l’Université Paris Cité

Jury:
Lise BERNARD Chargée de recherche CNRS École Normale Supérieure Examinatrice
Loïc BONNEVAL Maître de conférences Université Lyon II Examinateur
Guillemette DE LARQUIER Professeure des universités Université de Lille Rapporteuse
Sophie HARNAY Professeure des universités Université Paris Nanterre Rapporteuse
Philippe MOATI Professeur des universités Université Paris Cité Directeur

Résumé. L’agent immobilier, en tant qu’intermédiaire, facilite la mise en relation entre vendeurs et acquéreurs de biens immobiliers. Dans le cadre d’une prestation de services, le praticien accompagne la fixation du prix de vente. Pour ce faire, il considère les attributs du logement, les conditions du marché, le profil du vendeur, la concurrence avec les autres intermédiaires, les outils technologiques à sa disposition et s’appuie sur son expérience personnelle. Face à la complexité de ces multiples considérations, comment les agents immobiliers procèdent-ils pour établir le prix d’un logement ? Si le prix hédonique d’un logement se fixe à partir de ses caractéristiques et des conditions du marché, comment, dans les faits, les intermédiaires immobiliers arbitrent-ils entre l’application de ce principe théorique, d’une part, et la prise en compte de leurs propres intérêts et limites, d’autre part ? Finalement quel est l’impact des intermédiaires sur les prix du marché immobilier ? Cette recherche montre qu’au-delà de l’analyse de l’interaction entre l’offre et la demande, le professionnel recourt à un ensemble de règles implicites, établies individuellement ou collectivement, afin de formuler un prix « satisfaisant » (H. Simon) pour l’ensemble des acteurs impliqués dans la transaction, y compris lui-même. Plus précisément, l’agent immobilier écarte le bien de sa supposée « valeur intrinsèque » (E. Fama) tout au long du processus de fixation du prix. Tout d’abord, le prix estimatif est calculé à partir d’une information imparfaite et de décisions subjectives ou biaisées. Ensuite, motivée par l’intensité de la concurrence entre intermédiaires, une pression à la hausse exercée sur le prix affiché se répercute dans le prix final. Pour aboutir à ce dernier, l’agent immobilier, en réponse à ses impératifs de rentabilité, incite fortement les vendeurs à revoir leurs attentes à la baisse. Par conséquent, l’étude de l’impact de l’agent immobilier sur le prix d’un logement montre que le marché ne corrige pas la subjectivité des acteurs, mais s’en alimente. Dans la lignée des travaux de Keynes et de Shiller, relatifs aux dimensions psychologique et sociale des marchés, ce sont les acteurs qui construisent les prix sur le marché immobilier plutôt que les prix qui coordonnent les acteurs en s’imposant à eux. Cette recherche se concentre sur le marché résidentiel formé par 33 communes du Val-d’Oise. Selon une démarche méthodologique mixte, elle exploite des entretiens semi-directifs (n=16), les données internes d’une agence immobilière (n=585 mandats), une revue de la presse spécialisée (n=578 articles) et de la communication institutionnelle (n=63 communiqués de presse d’organisations professionnelles) ainsi qu’une base de prix agrégés (n=1970 transactions) pour étudier les pratiques professionnelles des agents immobiliers. Le cadre théorique convoqué combine la rationalité procédurale et la théorie des conventions pour comprendre le processus de décision, tant à travers les choix individuels que les interactions sectorielles. Ce travail aboutit à la formulation de recommandations destinées aux acteurs publics chargés d’améliorer le fonctionnement du marché immobilier.

Abstract. As an intermediary, the real estate agent facilitates contact between sellers and buyers of real estate. As part of the service provided, the agent assists in setting the selling price. To do so, he or she considers the attributes of the property, market conditions, the seller’s profile, competition with other intermediaries, the technological tools at his disposal, and draws on his or her personal experience. Given the complexity of these multiple considerations, how do real estate agents go about pricing a home? If the hedonic price of a home is based on its characteristics and market conditions, how do real estate intermediaries actually arbitrate between applying this theoretical principle, on the one hand, and taking into account their own interests and limitations, on the other? Finally, what impact do intermediaries have on real estate market prices? This research shows that, over and above the analysis of the interaction between supply and demand, the professional uses a set of implicit rules, established individually or collectively, to formulate a “satisfactory” price (H. Simon) for all the players involved in the transaction, including herself or himself. More precisely, the real estate agent sets aside the property’s supposed “intrinsic value” (E. Fama) throughout the price-setting process. Firstly, the estimated price is calculated on the basis of imperfect information and subjective or biased decisions. Then, driven by the intensity of competition between intermediaries, upward pressure on the posted price is reflected in the final price. To achieve the latter, real estate agents, in response to their profitability imperatives, strongly encourage sellers to revise their expectations downwards. Consequently, the study of the real estate agent’s impact on the price of a home shows that the market does not correct the subjectivity of the players, but feeds off it. In line with the work of Keynes and Shiller on the psychological and social dimensions of markets, it is actors who construct prices on the real estate market, rather than prices coordinating actors by imposing themselves on them. This research focuses on the residential market formed by 33 communes in the Val-d’Oise. Using a mixed-methods approach, it makes use of semi-structured interviews (n=16), internal data from a real estate agency (n=585 mandates), a review of the specialized press (n=578 articles) and institutional communication (n=63 press releases from professional organizations), as well as an aggregated price database (n=1970 transactions) to study the professional practices of real estate agents. The theoretical framework used combines procedural rationality and convention theory to understand the decision-making process, both through individual choices and sectoral interactions. The result is a set of recommendations aimed at the public players responsible for improving the functioning of the real estate market.

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A world of evidence: the global spread and silent politics of evidence cultures

Holger Straßheim (2024)

Policy and Society, Online first, open access

Abstract. How can we explain the worldwide spread of evidence-based policymaking despite continuous criticism? What are the underlying mechanisms of its persistence on a global scale? This article aims at answering these questions by focusing on the cultural constellations in which evidence is imbued with political as well as epistemic authority. Evidence cultures are discursive and institutional forces (re-)producing both the scientific validation of knowledge and its relevance in policymaking. They need to be understood as self-propagating constellations of interlinking science and policy through practices, discourses and institutionally sedimented regulations. Evidence is the product of chains of practices in which the initial knowledge struggles are gradually made publicly invisible and often inaccessible. The article reconstructs the immunization of evidence cultures from criticism and their silent politics by looking at quantifications, benchmarking and randomized controlled trials as typical cases. To overcome the circularities and closures so characteristic of the evidence culture of evidence-based policymaking, politico-epistemic diversity should be actively promoted.

Extract: “Within the sociology of conventions and, more specifically, the sociology of quantification, a different concept of culture has emerged (Boltanski & Thévenot, 2006; Desrosières, 1998; Diaz-Bone & Didier, 2016; Lamont, 2012; Mennicken & Salais, 2022). First, this stream of analysis agrees with the more habitual concepts of culture that conventions indeed provide a “shared frame of interpretation, evaluation and valuations” (Diaz-Bone, 2016, 49). As classifications, categories, or principles they become reference points and repertoires of how to determine the worth of objects and persons, how to justify actions and how to coordinate collectives. Second, institutions such as rules or standards are seen as both normatively and cognitively incomplete and underdetermined. They need to be concretized in social interactions. Third, actors are competent and have the ability to concretize institutions, to judge conventions, criticize and re-evaluate them and to find new ways of interlinking them in order to deal with situations of coordination and justification (Boltanski & Thévenot, 2006). In this sense, culture refers to a more situational and pragmatic repertoire of discourses and practices directing action and coordination but one that is also open to re-evaluation and critical re-formulation. “Evaluative practices” are certainly shaped by conventions, collective values and beliefs; they are, however, also up to criticism and disagreements between scientific peers, experts, policymakers, and other societal actors which might lead to a reorganization of the cultural constellation (Lamont & Huutoniemi, 2011; Lamont & Thévenot, 2000).” (p. 6)

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