France has long set the standard when it comes to art, fashion and fine dining—and that “joie de vivre” that extends from its cosmopolitan cities to its pastoral countrysides. But when it comes to real estate practices, France is looking across the Atlantic for inspiration.
Syndicat National des Proffessionnels Immobiliers (SNPI), one of three national associations in France with about 15,000 members, wants to create a new multiple listing service. France has a system called “Amanda,” but SNPI President Alain Duffoux wants to create what he believes is a better alternative that would unify SNPI members.
“The system in place now, it’s with a lot of people coming from different organizations, or franchises or independents,” Duffoux said. “[Because] SNPI members are all SNPI members, there are less difficulties to share and to work together.”
Multiple listing services—which underpin the U.S. marketplace—support competition, transparency and efficiency. The association leader of 30 years wants an MLS primarily to foster greater cooperation among agents and increase listing transparency, which he sees as lacking in France today.
At the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings in Washington, D.C., Gregg Kantak, who serves as the global ambassador between the National Association of REALTORS® and bilateral partners in Andorra and France, presented about SNPI’s journey in creating an MLS.
Last year, SNPI’s MLS-in-progress was certified by the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO), a U.S. nonprofit that sets guidelines for real estate data. Going through that certification process illuminated a significant obstacle for SNPI.
“In having the RESO license and going through the research that it took to create an MLS within the country—and I use this not only as, hopefully, a warning, but also guidance for you for speaking with your bilateral partners who may not have a formal MLS—don’t build the portal first,” Kantak said to a packed room of NAR global ambassadors and partner delegations from around the world.
In the U.S., brokers provide listing information to the MLS which shares information to consumer-facing portals. Here, brokers own the data. However, in France, the portals own the data, and brokers are forced to pay for listings.
“In Europe, we had the portal first, and in the U.S., you had the MLS first,” Duffoux said. The Netherlands is a bit of an exception, he explained, because their main portal “Funda” is majority-owned by the Dutch trade association NVM. However, creating a portal is expensive, Duffoux said, citing a nine-figure Euro expense.
“The American system was not able to work,” Duffoux said, and SNPI moved away from the RESO approach.
But there are other challenges on the horizon, including France’s real estate culture which is reticent to cooperate. France has buyer brokers, but it’s not the norm. So, the concept of asking a listing agent to offer cooperation to other agents is inherently foreign, especially considering that around 40% of properties are listed For Sale By Owner.
"The mentality is difficult,” Duffoux said. “It’s changing, but it takes a long time to say that if you share, you can sell [for instance] 20 properties. If you don’t share, you sell half.”
Which is a tough sell for agents making only a modest profit.
Compared to American agents, French agents make considerably less. In France, the Notaire (notary) has a larger role, often writing a preliminary contract.
Overcoming Hurdles and Making a Contingency Plan
SNPI’s false start in 2025 in creating an MLS has made Duffoux reevaluate his strategy.
He simultaneously serves as president of the European Association of Real Estate Professions (CEPI), the European Union’s equivalent of NAR, and is now exploring whether the 26-country organization can create an MLS. If not, he’ll renew his focus on an SNPI MLS with the goal to launch in 2028.
The challenge of creating an MLS hasn’t soured Duffoux’s willingness to engage globally. In fact, the French association has adopted NAR’s system of global ambassadors and opened an SNPI global office in Lisbon on June 24. The names of the ambassadors and SNPI Global’s Board of Directors will be presented at NAR NXT in New Orleans.
“It's always good to compare if it's better in your country—what you can take that can help you,” said Duffoux, who is a past NAR board member, celebrating the spirit of collaboration with NAR. “Always we take some part of what you do in the U.S. to do in France. Maybe sometimes you can take something from France to do it in U.S.”
Kantak, who is also an SNPI Global board member, reflected on the fourth and final year of his NAR ambassadorship term for France: “I have the best country—I’m sorry I do,” he said to applause, inviting friendly competition. “I’m very lucky to say that.”
