“All French activity is starting up well, even if supply problems exist in certain sectors, but not us!
Pascal Boulanger, president of the Federation of Real Estate Developers France (FPI), sounded the alarm on the state of the new housing construction market on the sidelines of his quarterly press conference.
"We risk breaking down ... We have no shortage of clients, of actors ready to build, but for political reasons, elected officials hesitate - to put it mildly -, rather refuse to authorize constructions under the pressure of their voters.
The current generation refuses the future generation the comfort it has, ”protests the president of the FPI, which brings together 90% of professionals in the sector.
"We expect layoffs and are also worried about prices, which are at very high levels," he adds.
More than 23% drop in sales to individuals
Particularly affected, retail reservations (to individuals) fell 3.1% (to 20,915) in the third quarter compared to the same period of 2020. Compared to the third quarter of 2019, this decline reached 23.7%.
“Sales remain well below the average level of the last six years and this, for lack of“ programs to sell in a context of dwindling building permits, ”insists the federation.
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As for the stock of goods for sale, it is shrinking over the months.
Out of 22 of the largest French cities, 15 have a stock of new homes for sale that is less than twelve months old.
"A new stage of the shortage of new housing is setting in: in some metropolitan areas, the lead times are now getting longer because of the drop in demand, due to lack of supply", underlines the REIT.
And Pascal Boulanger to cite the example of the city of Bordeaux, whose stock volume exceeds thirteen months, not thanks to a dynamism of constructions but because of the stagnation of unsold goods which do not find takers.
Increase in loan refusals
Another subject of concern pointed out, that of the soaring prices of new housing under construction. "When a mayor is a builder, it becomes obvious immediately and all the professionals rush on the spot and the land prices go up with the competition", explains Pascal Boulanger. A price increase which has repercussions on the final price of housing and reduces the purchasing capacity of customers themselves "increasingly difficult to credit", alarms Marc Villand, president of the Federation of real estate developers Île-de -France.
Proof of this is the withdrawal rate of buyers in new buildings reached a level "quite strong at 23%", according to the president of FPI France.
“Some withdrawals are fanciful, linked to buyers who acquire several properties to block them, but we are also told of concerns about obtaining loans… In these 23%, we note a strong rise in bank refusals.
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