The amount of real estate loans granted in October, excluding renegotiations, has been rising continuously since August, to 10,4 billion euros, according to figures from the Banque de France published on Friday.
Real estate credit had only exceeded the symbolic 10 billion euro mark once this year, in July. At the current rate, however, 2024 is likely to be the weakest year since 2014.
"The credit market situation has been improving since the beginning of the year, benefiting from the recovery in real estate purchasing intentions of households reassured by the slowdown in inflation and a more dynamic banking offer," noted the authors of the monthly study by the Crédit Logement/CSA Observatory on Thursday.
In the Lyon area, Maryll Imsissen's Orpi real estate agencies have seen "a massive return of buyers since September 2024", with an increase of "more than 30% in contacts" since September, explains the director of five agencies.
"Like any crisis, recovery is happening from the bottom up", with mainly transactions involving "apartments, small properties and many first-time buyers", while non-urban areas are still having "enormous difficulty attracting buyers", she explained to AFP.
Anaïs, a 30-year-old urban planner who did not wish to give her last name, picked up the keys to her 30 m³ studio in Manosque (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) at the end of November. "I have wanted to buy for four or five years, but not for me because I do not yet know where I will live in my future life," she tells AFP.
Currently based in Paris, she chose her home region to invest in a rental property, and "it's a good thing that rates have dropped", even if the realization of her project was more linked to her professional situation than to the level of interest rates.
feverishness
Average interest rates on new loans now seem to be landing: they only fell very slightly between September and October, from 3,56% to 3,51%, according to the Banque de France.
These rates are exclusive of fees and insurance. Including all fees, the rates reached 4,39% for a term of twenty years or more in the third quarter, according to the same source.
For 100.000 euros borrowed over 20 years, you will need to count on around 50.000 euros in credit costs over the duration of the loan.
This high level reached in just a few quarters represented a real shock for households' real estate purchasing power. In the first quarter of 2022, it was two and a half times lower, at 1,80%.
As for the Parisian market, it showed signs of recovery as early as January, according to Camille Barbe, real estate negotiator at the Enfants Rouges agency. "We had a very good start to the year, the months of April and May were also extremely dynamic, but the dissolution put a stop to" transactions, says Ms. Barbe.
Since September "it's been picking up again", with "a huge number of visits but not many offers" submitted by buyers who are more "in a position of power and who are trying hard to negotiate prices", she says.
But the government's censorship "risks generating further wait-and-see attitude on the part of buyers, whether they are first-time buyers, second-time buyers or investors, because they need visibility and confidence in the future to plan for a property purchase," stressed Brice Cardi, president of the l'Adresse real estate agency network, on Thursday.
"Following the censure vote on Wednesday evening and the resignation of the government, legitimate questions are being asked about the recovery of the real estate market and the evolution of credit rates," said Ludovic Huzieux, co-founder of Artémis courtage, on Friday.
Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.