“We thought we had hit rock bottom, but we continue to have catastrophic, cataclysmic figures,” commented its president, Pascal Boulanger, during a video conference, for whom the rebound “is not for now”.
Permits issued by communities to build collective housing continued to decline in the first quarter (-7,6%) to 40.600, far behind the volume reached between 2015 and 2018 (59.600).
Reservations for new housing, including individuals and investors, fell by 15,4% to 19.135, “the lowest level observed since the creation of the FPI Observatory”.
The buyout program by CDC Habitat and Action Logement was not enough to compensate for the fall in reservations from individuals (-26,8%).
New housing sales also fell by 41,2% (11.656).
As a direct result, sales times exceed thirty months in five major cities in France.
Far from adjusting downward, retail prices are up slightly (+1,9%).
New real estate is going through a deep crisis. Construction site costs have increased, driven by rising prices for construction materials and tougher environmental requirements, and demand has plummeted, due to unfavorable conditions for borrowing and the end of favorable tax loopholes. 'investment.
While an improvement was announced for 2024 with a slight improvement in household financing conditions, the first quarter is “even worse than the end of 2023”, warns the FPI.
“The day there is a recovery in demand, we will be stuck by the lack of supply,” warned Mr. Boulanger, who still expects the elimination of 300.000 jobs by 2025, including 150.000 in construction. and calls “to revive demand to revive supply”.
Asked about the housing bill presented at the beginning of May to try to unblock the residential path of the French, the boss of the FPI estimated that the simplification measures were going "in the right direction" but that it was "really not at all at the height of the challenge and the catastrophe".
“The summer will be hot,” he added.
Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.