Fewer than 10.000 new homes were put on sale in the third quarter, according to the French Federation of Real Estate Developers (FPI).

Developers sold 9.962 homes between July and September, a figure "two and a half times lower than a typical year," notes Didier Bellier-Ganière, general delegate of the FPI (French Federation of Property Developers). "Unprecedented," he says, since the creation of the new housing observatory in 2008.

This is paradoxical given that the number of building permits issued has been increasing since the beginning of the year, after two years of low activity.

"Authorizations are picking up again but construction starts remain at a very low level," commented Didier Bellier-Ganière during a press conference.

For the FPI, which questioned its members about this gap between building permits and actual construction, developers continue to apply for permits and develop projects so as not to "insult the future" and not to "lose the teams", explained the Federation's president, Pascal Boulanger.

But faced with weak demand, some projects will not materialize. In the third quarter, the marketing of one in five real estate projects was suspended or withdrawn from the market "because the clientele is not there and the developers prefer to cut their losses," explained Didier Bellier-Ganière.

The end of the crisis is still not here for Pascal Boulanger who observes "figures surely the worst" published by his observatory, and which "continue to deteriorate".

New construction has been facing a serious crisis for three years due to rising construction costs, increased interest rates which have blocked the home purchase plans of many households and the end of support measures for rental investment.

In the first nine months of the year, the number of housing reservations by individual investors was reduced by half compared to the same period in 2024, the last year of the Pinel tax break for rental investment incentives.

Compared to 2019, sales to individual investors have even been divided by 6,2, falling from 13.557 to 2.183 in 2025.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.