There are several reasons for rising property prices in some cities that have long been overlooked by potential buyers.
In Le Havre, Angers, Saint-Etienne or Le Mans, prices skyrocket, from 1,500 to 3,700 euros per square metre. At first glance, these real estate prices seem affordable, but it’s quite the opposite. Indeed, in these cities, purchasing power has decreased since 2019, much more than elsewhere. Thus, for a loan of 194,000 euros over twenty years, the number of square meters lost exceeds 40m², particularly in Le Mans and Angers, explains Meilleurstaux, whose study was transmitted by the real estate Le Figaro.
This collapse can be explained in two ways. First of all due to rising tariffs, but also due to the increase in prices in these medium-sized cities, which have known a strong appeal following the coronavirus epidemic, after having been neglected for a long time. In Le Mans and Saint-Etienne, prices have risen by more than 20% in two years. In Angers and Le Havre, according to the study, the epidemic was contained to 10%.
Decrease in the real estate purchasing power due to the increase in interest rates
How long will the tension be maintained for these four cities? In Angers, the desire is above all to attract new residents, but also to retain them. ” The TGV effect comes into play, thanks to the proximity to Paris (1h40 for Angers)”, explains Maël Bernier, from Meilleurtaux, who adds: “ Le Mans, located less than an hour by train from Paris, has been completely transformed. “Moreover, according to the city councilor, Stéphane Le Foll, for the first time” for more than thirty years “, the population of the Sarthe increased in 2022 (1,280 inhabitants more than in 2021), according to the INSEE.
Cities like Saint-Etienne and Le Havre, long associated with a boring image, are discovering prices on the rise and at the same time attracting them again. ” In Le Havre, the price of stone has obviously increased, but it is above all the increase in rates that contributes massively to the decline in real estate purchasing power. “, analyzes Maël Bernier who nevertheless recognizes that the Norman city has updated itself. More and more Lyonnais were, for their part, attracted by Saint-Etienne, so much so that they wanted to buy larger spaces, inaccessible in the nearby city of Lyon, while continuing to work in the capital of Gaul which they could quickly reach by train.
The big cities are not left out even if the planned real estate purchasing power is less important there. Within three years, residents “only” lost the equivalent of a large bedroom, except in Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux. Compared to the financeable area of medium-sized cities, would-be owners in these large cities will have to make do with surfaces two to three times smaller, because real estate prices there are two to three times higher, except in Paris. ” The rate increase causes a real change in the matrix and the consequences do not spare the citybelieves Maël Bernier. Buyers in Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux are also having to absorb the rate hike. »
