This is not a variant, but an unprecedented mutation that the traditional furnished rental real estate sector has undergone since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In one year, the number of furnished apartments for rent for the year has exploded while rents continue to climb, according to the SeLoger rent barometer revealed today exclusively by “le Parisien”.
"This situation cannot last, we are on the eve of major upheavals in the sector," warns Florent Guiocheau, head of studies for the SeLoger group.
The strong imbalance between the high supply of furnished apartments and a lower demand for tenants will force lessors in the coming months to lower their prices, to give up renting or renting empty, ”he believes, relying on on the data of its barometer.
Record ad volumes
"We have never recorded such a rapid and strong explosion in the number of furnished apartments for a year, between March 1, 2021 and March 1, 2020," says the professional.
In Paris, the volume of advertisements tripled (+ 205%) over one year with dizzying peaks in tourist areas.
It quintuple (+ 400%) in the third arrondissement of the capital, quadruple in the second arrondissement and triples in the eleventh, tenth and first arrondissements of Paris ...
The phenomenon is also visible but in a more moderate way in the Paris region.
Furnished rental offers have tripled in Hauts-de-Seine (+ 167%) and doubled in Seine-Saint-Denis (+ 102%), according to SeLoger.
Last in the ranking, the Yvelines department still recorded an increase in its furnished accommodation offer of nearly 55% over one year!
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Paris: the boom in furnished apartments is shaking up the rental market like never before
This boom seems rather logical.
For lack of tourists, the owners of furnished apartments are turning away from seasonal rentals (such as Airbnb, Abritel, etc.) to go to the traditional circuit with a renewable one-year lease.
"Landlord owners prefer to rent their furnished apartments year round rather than no longer renting them at all", summarizes Florent Guiocheau.
However, Airbnb contests this report, which observes "no massive ad deactivation phenomenon".
At the same time, the usual tenants of these furnished apartments have disappeared.
"The vast majority of our clients are rental investors on credit who have seen their tenants all year round, most often professionals and students, give their notice and return home because of the pandemic", confides Stanislas Coûteaux, co-founder of Book A Flat, specialist in high-end rentals in Paris and Ile-de-France.
With 450 properties under management, he saw his portfolio double in one year.
"Average rental times are getting longer"
Average prices per square meter excluding load, which serve as a benchmark for monitoring changes in the furnished apartment market, have continued to climb for a year.
The Yvelines are this time at the top of the ranking with rents up 6.2% over one year to 19.40 euros per square meter (excluding load), neck and neck with Val-d'Oise (+ 6, 1%, at 18.80 euros per square meter), followed by Seine-Saint-Denis (+ 4.7%, at 19.60 euros per square meter), itself driven by the city of Saint-Denis ( + 5.4%).
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"The owners, forced to rent their furnished apartments, are trying high monthly rents to compensate for the loss of their seasonal income", analyzes the head of research for the SeLoger group.
Are they praising?
"Average rental times are getting longer except in departments where prices per square meter are very low such as Seine-et-Marne, Val-de-Marne and Essonne," notes the expert.
And to point out two cities where prices are running out of steam.
“A drop in rents seems to be starting in Boulogne (Hauts-de-Seine) and Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis), he explains.
Their price per square meter fell by 1.4% and 0.3% respectively over one year ”.
Tenants who no longer hesitate to negotiate the displayed price
In Paris, the drop is not visible in the figures but has already started in practice, tenants no longer hesitating to negotiate the displayed price, according to Book A Flat.
"Faced with amorphous demand, we are encouraging our owners to lower their rents by using the lever of the exceptional discount due to Covid, which allows them to raise their rents once the crisis has passed", explains Stanislas Coûteaux.
And to cite the example of a 33 square meters in the 17th arrondissement whose monthly rent of 1,650 euros has just been reduced to 1,400 euros.
