"In comparison with certain metropolitan areas which have experienced a sharp drop in their sales volume, these figures show more than resistance from medium-sized towns", specifies the barometer co-produced by the Superior Council of Notaries and the management of the ACV program. .
Launched at the end of 2017 and with a budget of five billion euros over five years, this program aims to revitalize and support the development of 222 intermediate cities (between 10.000 and 100.000 inhabitants).
At the scale of the agglomerations listed by ACV, despite a year "marked by a health crisis", the volume of sales continued to increase, going from 283.290 in 2019 to 296.160 sales in 2020 (+ 12.870).
Significant sales volumes were observed in Moulins, Besançon, Pau, Lisieux, Saintes or Autun, according to the director of the LCA program, Rollon Mouchel-Blaisot.
This finding is particularly significant in the departments located near the Ile-de-France region, driven by a "particularly dynamic" real estate market, where purchases are increasing.
Between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020, the proportion of buyers in the Ile-de-France region increased particularly in the departments of Yonne (27% of buyers in the Ile-de-France region, +9 points in one year), Eure (22%, + 6 points) and Orne (21%, +6 points).
"One can think that the restriction of movement to 100 kilometers from the first confinement played in the reflection of the purchasers", analyzes Peggy Montesinos, member of the office of the superior council of the notariat.
Without speaking of "urban exodus", these new buyers were "helped by teleworking", specifies Ms. Montesinos.
"Up to Limoges via the Cher, the Loir-et-Cher, the Indre or the Creuse, there was an interest in these territories which are well connected to Paris", observes Mr. Mouchel-Blaisot.
"The investments are starting to bear fruit", he adds, specifying that the actions of the ACV program will continue to be deployed so that "the living environment of these cities on a human scale is even more attractive".
Out of the 5 billion euros of the Action coeur de ville program, some 2,1 billion euros have been committed to several hundred projects concerning the renovation of housing, economic development or the digital transition of medium-sized cities.