The suspension of MaPrimeRénov' raises fears of a halt in sales of energy-intensive homes this summer

The suspension of applications for energy renovation aid until September 15, announced last week by the government, "will obviously have an impact on transactions" for the most energy-intensive real estate, predicts Loïc Cantin, president of Fnaim.

The impact on the overall real estate market is expected to remain "marginal," the representative of the National Real Estate Federation (Fnaim) said.

A setback feared by Sébastien Richard, a real estate agent in Sedan (Ardennes) - an "economically depressed" town where "houses are often 'in their original state'".

"We are recovering a lot of properties, particularly those belonging to elderly people, which are in G (very energy-intensive, Editor's note), with an oil heating system, a lack of interior-exterior insulation, single glazing...", he lists.

However, in a region where the price per square meter is among "the cheapest in France," the cost of renovation work can sometimes represent more than 50% of the purchase price, observes the independent real estate agent.

"Even with the subsidies, people are reluctant to buy poorly rated houses. So, without the subsidies, it's not even worth it..." he sighs.

For those who have just signed a sales agreement, uncertainty is a source of anxiety: "I'm going to end up with a property that's a toaster," lamented a listener on France Inter on Thursday, who explained that she had bought a property rated G on the energy performance certificate (DPE) in the hope of being able to benefit from renovation aid.

"Ultimately (...) it turns out that I won't be able to benefit from it or that it's been postponed until much later. So it's a life project that's falling apart," she confided, challenging Housing Minister Valérie Létard, who was participating in the program.

"No visibility"

A property rated F or G in the DPE takes about five days longer to sell than a property rated between A and E, according to the SeLoger website. This proves that thermal sieves are, even with energy renovation subsidies, less attractive than other properties on the real estate market.

But until now, purchases of the most energy-intensive homes were encouraged by "a discounted price," that is, a downward revision, and by "advantages (...), such as a zero-rate loan (PTZ) or MaPrimeRénov'," which led "some buyers and first-time buyers to acquire them," explains Loïc Cantin.

For existing properties, the PTZ allows financing the acquisition of housing provided that energy renovation work is carried out.

However, with the suspension of MaPrimeRénov', these households "with average resources (...) cannot commit, since there is no visibility" and will therefore "defer" their projects, he added.

The temporary suspension of the system therefore risks temporarily "breaking" the "energy renovation circuit", especially in "rural areas" because "there are more DPE F and G (...) than in large urban areas", analyses the president of Fnaim.

On the other hand, investors - who buy a property to rent it out - will also be less inclined to buy energy-intensive housing until the MaPrimeRénov' scheme is reopened, according to Stéphanie Gaillard-Serougne, spokesperson for the Greater Paris notaries.

"Today we have a rental market that is declining (...) because there are more and more constraints" for owners. "So if, in addition (...) we remove a relaxation in the implementation of works, we will have even fewer buyers," she asserts.

Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin announced on Tuesday that the application window for MaPrimeRénov' grants will restart on September 15, following a suspension planned by the government until July 1.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.