Why is the increase in the usury rate so expected?
Originally designed to protect consumers from excessive borrowing, usury rate – in other words, the legal, all-encompassing maximum interest rate that a bank is allowed to charge when giving you a loan – ends up haunting borrowers. In question, the continuous increase in credit rates practiced in recent months. In November, they averaged 2.25% (all durations combined), according ton the CSA Abitare Credit Observatory. Add to this the cost of the borrower’s insurance, incidental expenses, and you get an APR (effective annual rate) that flirts dangerously with the usury rate, currently set at 3.05% for loans with a term equal to or over 20 years old.
Result: the banks, which do not intend to lend at a loss, have cut off the credit tap. Many files are locked, waiting for an increase in the rate of wear. The Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, announced to Le Sunday newspaper, an early January revaluation of about +0.50 or +0.55%. Which give, at least temporarily, a little breather to credit production.
Will it be easier for modest families to get a mortgage?
Make no mistake: the breath of fresh air, if it happens, will be short-lived. As soon as it enters into force, the new usury rate, updated according to the average rates applied in the last three months, all increased by a third, will already be one train behind the rates requested by the banks. up sharply in the first quarter of 2023. Maël Bernier, spokesperson for Meilleurtaux. com, predicts that 3% will be reached next year. Olivier Lendrevie, President of Nooseshe even bets on “3.5% by April-May”.
The attrition rate had already been increased by 0.48% on October 1st. Three weeks later, the increase in borrowing rates had already canceled out the beneficial effect for borrowers. From September to November, the amounts of loans granted decreased by 36.4% compared to the same period in 2021.
What are the short-term prospects for the Breton investor?
Rising interest rates, wages that increase little and selling prices that remain at a sustained level, due to the lack of goods available on the market. Would it be the triple penalty in Brittany?
No, replies Jean-François Fontaine, credit expert, head of the Cafpi agency in Rennes. “As regards credit rates, the region benefits from the competitive presence of the four mutual banks (Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, Caisse d’Épargne, Crédit Agricole and Banque Populaire), which often offer scales below market rates, by around 0.10 -0.20 points less “, explains the broker. A saving asset since it is sufficient, for certain files that would be at the limit of the usury rate, to remain below and obtain a loan. Provided, of course, not to go into debt beyond 35% regulatory.
As for the market, “prices are stabilising. We are even seeing the appearance of corrections of 5 to 10% in some sectors, often linked to energy redevelopment works to be undertaken urgently ”, she observes, betting on a return to negotiation in 2023.
