Real estate is not experiencing the (health) crisis

2020 will not be the best year in the history of real estate, but it will not be the worst either: according to figures revealed by notaries, the enthusiasm of the French for real estate is not waning.

Good news for homeowners, but less so for buyers.

2019 was a record year with more than a million real estate transactions throughout France in the former.

But against all odds, buyers were once again numerous in 2020, despite lockdowns and the economic slowdown.

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French people focused on their real estate projects

Thus, transactions fell only 5% over one year, according to figures collected by notaries in September.

According to Frédéric Violeau, president of the Notarial Institute of Real Estate Law of the Superior Council of Notaries, "we should reach 970,000 to 980,000 transactions in 2020".

In fact, buyers have found ways to carry out their real estate projects despite the health crisis: the signing of distance selling deeds has developed, notary offices have remained open and moves have been authorized during confinement.

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Prices that continue to rise

This market resistance has supported prices, which, against all expectations, increased further in 2020. Western France is particularly dynamic with an increase in the prices of old vehicles of + 14% in Rennes and of + 13% In Nantes.

Lyon, Lille and Marseille are also seeing the price per square meter increase by 10%.

However, these figures illustrate something new: for the first time, prices rose faster in the provinces than in Île-de-France (+ 7.1% in the provinces for apartments, against + 6.1% in Île-de-France). -France).

However, Paris does not lose its title as the most expensive city in France: a square meter costs on average 10,640 euros, more than double that of the second most expensive city in France, which is Lyon (4,770 euros per meter).

Are we witnessing a rush in the provinces?

Not really: the overall figures contradict the idea that city dwellers have fled cities en masse to go green, for the benefit of teleworking.

In fact, city centers remain highly desirable.

Some French people, even if they are rare, have all the same made the choice to move to the countryside after the experience of confinement.

"It's not something that happened suddenly, we had to imagine ourselves here all year round, and we had two and a half months to do it", confided a mother. with Europe 1. "We did that for our little boy. During all this confinement, we saw him metamorphose, evolve in the countryside, in nature."

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A market almost disconnected from the economy

For many French people, the stone constitutes a safe haven in these times of crisis and the fall in prices, long awaited but which does not come, seems to prove them right.

Banks, for their part, continue to grant real estate loans en masse.

The real estate market therefore seems more and more disconnected from the health of the economy since prices are rising three times faster than the purchasing power of the French.

Despite everything, this has consequences for their purchasing behavior: on average, the fundable area - calculated on the basis of a monthly payment of 800 euros for 20 years, and without contribution, is 55 square meters over the entire France.

In 2019, it was 56 square meters.