Real estate: what French buyers want

Spring is usually a good time to buy for those who want to have moved in for the start of the school year in September. It is therefore a good time to take stock of the real estate purchasing desires of the French.

What are their deepest motivations and their possible fears? How will they make their choices? Do they intend to borrow to make their project a reality? Decryption with the 1st part of the Guy Hoquet x Yougov study on individuals over 30: “What the French want in real estate: focus on buyers”.

More than one in two French people surveyed intend to buy by the end of 2024

The desire to become an owner or to move to change accommodation remains extremely present among French people: 55% of French people over 30 who intend to buy, wish to complete their purchase of an apartment or a house by the end of 2024. And among them, 45% are currently renting their homes.

• 55% of French project leaders want to buy before the end of the year
• 72% want to own a home

It is still the individual house that attracts potential buyers the most: 72% of real estate project leaders want to buy a house.

And this is also the case among multi-owners and future sellers: in fact, 50% of people who intend to buy within the year are already owners. Half of their mortgage is still outstanding, and half of them have finished repaying it. In both cases, it is the individual house which wins the majority of votes.

For Stéphane Fritz, president of Guy Hoquet l'Immobilier: “After a turbulent year 2023 for the French in terms of real estate, we wanted to take the temperature of their state of mind. This is why we invested in an exclusive study to measure their wishes to buy, their possible obstacles and their aspirations. This first part of the study looks at the plans of those who intend to buy by the end of 2024. We see an encouraging signal: more than 1 in 2 French people surveyed have intention to make a real estate purchase during the year. This makes the link with the trends that we have observed on the ground for two months: the French are starting to consider buying again, in particular thanks to the borrowing conditions which are becoming a little more attractive for them again. »

A strong desire to prepare for the future

In their desire to become owners, the French clearly express the extent to which real estate primarily represents a reassuring investment for them.

In fact, those who wish to buy primarily want to build assets (34%) and make their first purchase (1%).

It is only in 3rd position that the desire to buy “better” appears (24%), that is to say bigger, brighter, or with an exterior for example.

Finally, among the reasons mentioned, rental investment finally ranks 6th among the reasons for buying real estate. A ranking to be compared with the borrowing difficulties observed since the second half of 2023.

The budget remains the main point of attention for those who wish to buy in 2024

While purchasing power is of particular concern to French households, it is not surprising to note that the number 1 search criterion is the price of the good they are looking for.

Especially since 73% of them intend to take out a mortgage.

In addition, it clearly appears in the study that they want to control the budget to devote to their real estate purchase. In fact, 74% of them do not envisage a monthly payment exceeding €1.000, 27% of project leaders are worried about property prices that are too high and 18% fear not obtaining a property loan.

Contrary to popular belief, the energy performance of goods influences their choices less than certain other criteria

Question: “What are the 5 most important characteristics for you when looking for your property? »

Nearly 2 out of 3 buyers pay particular attention to the price of the property.

Then, it is first of all the quality of life which takes precedence: the possibility of benefiting from an exterior (53%), the calm (38%), the surface area (37%), the number of rooms (36%) or even the brightness, the exposure (32%).

Finally, 1 in 3 of them consider energy performance as an important characteristic: DPE comes in 7th position (only?) in their list of criteria.

Families who wish to access property, often for the first time

In 2024, the majority of real estate purchase project leaders are aged 30 to 44 (Index 119 vs. all respondents), live today mainly in towns with more than 20.000 inhabitants (Index 109) and generally live in households of 3 people or more (Index 111).

There are also more of them who are currently renting (Index 150) and are therefore seeking, with this purchase project, to access property. Will 2024 be more favorable to first-time buyers than 2023?

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.