This year, the dynamism of the real estate market has allowed sales to catch up after the weeks of confinement in 2020. In a context of historically low rates, the French have accelerated the realization of their project, and the health crisis has revealed new real estate behaviors.
The end of the year should be part of a still upward trend with volumes clearly above one million transactions, according to the Notaries of France who drew up a report for 2021.
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Nearly 2 million transactions in the old
According to the Notaries of France, 1,198,000 transactions were carried out over the last 12 months in France at the end of October 2021 (compared to 1,156,000 at the end of June).
The annual volume of transactions has been increasing since the 4th quarter of 2020, after the drop that occurred between the end of 2019 and the 3rd quarter of 2020. “If we refer to the year 2019, 2020 being an exceptional year given the ‘almost total shutdown of the real estate chain for several weeks, the increase would be 14.5% (1,198,000 transactions in 2021, against 1,046,000 in 2019) ”, underline the Notaries.
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Higher prices in the provinces
Over one year at the end of October 2021, the prices of old apartments increased by 5.2% in France, more pronounced. This increase is more marked in the provinces (+ 7.5%) than in Île-de-France (+ 2.5%).
The increase over one year in the price index for old houses in France amounts to 9%. It is also stronger in the provinces (+ 9.4%) than in Île-de-France (+ 7%).
Compared with 2016, the prices of old apartments have increased by 50% in Lyon, 26% in Strasbourg, 23% in Dijon, 21% in Saint-Étienne and to a lesser extent by 10% in Grenoble.
For old houses, the price trend over five years is also marked in Lyon (+ 32%), Saint-Étienne (+ 22%), Strasbourg (+ 21%), Dijon (+ 19%) and Grenoble (+ 14%).
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Real estate purchasing power down by 4 m² for apartments
At the national level, the area that can be financed in 2021 of an old apartment is 50 m², ie – 4 m² over one year (with a monthly payment of € 800 per month for 20 years and without contribution).
Among the 18 largest cities in France, 11 offer an area greater than the national area (compared to 9 in 2020): Grenoble and Dijon with 68 m², Strasbourg with 52 m² and Toulouse with 51 m² (a novelty this year for the latter two cities).
Saint-Étienne stands out from other cities with a much larger surface area (147 m²), but it is also the town that has experienced the greatest decline over one year (- 12 m²).
Concerning the municipalities where the average surface area is lower than the national average, only three cities have a real estate capacity of more than 40 m²: Rennes (46 m² / – 4 m²), Lille (44 m² / – 2m²) Nantes (42 m² / – 2 m²).
Among the cities studied, no increase in real estate purchasing power was observed.
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Real estate purchasing power down by 8 m² for houses
The financing area in 2021 of an old house in France amounts to 140 m², or – 8 m² over one year (with a monthly payment of € 1,300 per month for 20 years and without contribution).
On the market for old houses, all the agglomerations studied display purchasing power below the national average. The surfaces vary between 57 m² (agglomeration of Nice) and 131 m² (agglomeration of Saint-Étienne).
In Lyon, it does not exceed 100 m² (73 m² / – 6 m²), as in Strasbourg (91 m² / – 3 m²) and Grenoble (89 m² / – 5 m²), while it reaches 103 m² in Dijon (- 3 m²).
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