This is yet another bad news on the purchasing power front.
According to data from the Banque de France communicated this Thursday, January 5, the French who waited until the end of 2022 or the start of 2023 to acquire their main residence must revise their plans downwards.
The real estate purchasing power of households simply collapsed by 8 m2 between January and October.
To reach this conclusion, the Banque de France analyzed the evolution of prices, credit rates, borrower income and the duration of loans.
"Purchasing power has deteriorated markedly under the combined effect of the rise in interest rates and the rise in real estate prices", analyzes Marie-Laure Barut-Etherington, Deputy Director General of the Statistics Department, studies and international.
If the loss was only 2 m2 over the first five months of the year, it accelerated with an additional loss of 6 m2 over the following five months.
And this because of the average real estate rates over 20 and 25 years (excluding insurance and fees) which have risen from 1% to 2% in the meantime.
Whereas over the last twenty years, the fall in interest rates had contributed to preserving, as much as possible, the real estate purchasing power reduced by the rise in the price per m2.
"The announced disaster is not verified in our figures"
Information that confirms the Meilleurtaux study that we unveiled on Tuesday January 3: the broker estimates that in the 20 largest cities in France, the French have lost 13 m2 of purchasing power in one year, and even 20 since 2019 .
But if we can no longer buy as big as before, the real estate market retains its dynamism according to the Banque de France.
The production of housing loans (excluding renegotiations) was thus 218 billion euros in 2022, very close to the 2021 record with 225 billion.
The momentum nevertheless slowed down quite sharply in the second half, with a drop in production of around 15% at the end of the year on a quarter-on-year basis.
What to see there the sign of a rate of wear effect?
This maximum rate at which one can borrow was raised to 3.57% for loans of 20 years and over on January 1.
Insufficient for brokers who accuse him of excluding credit between 10 and 40% of buyers.
“The attrition rate did not prevent 218 billion from making new loans this year”, disputes analysis Marie-Laure Barut-Etherington.
Before concluding: “The announced disaster is not verified in our figures.
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