Home loans hampered by rising interest rates

Main obstacle according to the brokers: the wear rate. Revised quarterly by the Banque de France, it sets the maximum rate at which banks are allowed to lend.

Currently, it stands at 2,57% for 20-year home loans, all costs included, including insurance and any brokers' commission.

However, as the banks themselves borrow more expensive than at the beginning of the year, they may be tempted to oust the brokers to preserve their margins.

"The only populations who will be able to borrow will be those under 45 who are in good health and at the same time who have income and personal contributions high enough to be interesting for the banks. But it is a customer on two, no more", fears Olivier Lendrevie, president of the network of Cafpi brokers.

"When, because of a problem with the configuration of a regulation, you put out of play one in two potential buyers, you unbalance the market and you create the conditions for a crisis which can be very serious", he warns. .

Buyers in the best position could indeed better negotiate their purchases, for lack of competitors, and cause real estate prices to fall.

According to a survey commissioned by associations of brokers, 40% of the professionals questioned believe that at least four out of ten files have been refused since the beginning of the year.

"It will happen"

Real estate and finance professionals are more cautious.

"We do not yet have a feeling as strong as the brokers but it will happen, automatically", testifies to AFP Peggy Montesinos, real estate specialist at the Higher Council of Notaries.

"Today, even if the rates are rising, they remain attractive and well below inflation. The fact remains that the combination of the rate of wear and the rise in rates desolvetes part of the first-time buyers, especially the most modest and the youngest", judge with AFP Véronique Bédague, CEO of Nexity.

The banks "are vigilant to the indicators which could testify to tensions on the mortgage. These indicators are multiplying over the days, as noted by the French who are looking for a loan to buy their home", said the French Banking Federation (FBF ).

“The banking profession is therefore sensitive that the usury device, this measure of protection for borrowers, does not become a mechanism for excluding households from financing their solvent projects,” adds the professional organization.

"Normalization"

The Banque de France, on the other hand, stands out clearly from the findings of brokers.

The institution recalls that the usury rate is made "to protect borrowing households, and not the interests of brokers or lenders."

A "possible crowding-out effect" of borrowers "did not exist significantly before the end of June; we will look precisely for the end of September", she adds.

In a publication of August 2, the central bank notes that the "production of housing loans is starting to normalize gradually" while remaining "beyond the monthly averages of recent years".

It recorded outstanding loans to individuals up 6,2% in June year on year, supported by the "housing" component (+6,6%). New loans granted represented 22,7 billion euros in June, down from May (26,8 billion) but "higher than the monthly averages observed for 5 years" which vary from 16,9 to 22,8 billion, says the central bank.

In addition, the rise in interest rates for new loans continues "very gradually": 1,26% on average in May, 1,35% on average in June and 1,44% expected in July, according to the central bank . However, this is the nominal rate, to which are added all the costs related to obtaining credit, to obtain the overall effective rate of the loan (APR), capped by law.

The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire promised to raise the subject “from the first days of the start of the school year” with the governor of the Banque de France.