Romain Rouillard 16:37 p.m., April 18, 2023, modified at 16:41 p.m., April 18, 2023

Real estate prices did not experience the expected contraction in the first quarter of 2023. On the contrary, rates have even increased slightly compared to the last quarter of 2022 according to the Guy Hoquet barometer. Large disparities between regions can also be observed.

Housing is still expensive in France. As revealed by the barometer Guy Hoquet, real estate prices remained at a high level at the beginning of the year. Worse, they even tended to increase slightly in the first quarter compared to the last three months of the previous year (+1.5%) while some predicted falling prices.

Over one year, the increase was 4.3% with significant differences depending on the regions considered. Except in Île-de-France, where the price per square meter has not changed, almost all French people have seen their real estate bill increase over the last 12 months.

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"By analyzing the entire market offer, we see that prices remain on a positive dynamic for the moment," confirms Stéphane Fritz, president of Guy Hoquet Real Estate. Nevertheless, the professional analyzes this data with optimism. "With an evolution of +1.5% since the last quarter, we are starting to feel the beginnings of a contraction of the market," he said. While conceding that "the difficulties related to real estate credit, the decline in purchasing power and the constraints related to the need to renovate the old housing stock" tend to "impact the real estate projects of the French".

Dramatic increases in the south, some declines in the east

And especially around the Mediterranean, which records 80% of the largest price increases per square meter. In Antibes, in the Alpes-Maritimes, the latter stands at 9,116 euros, an increase of 17.7% compared to the first quarter of 2022. Similar observation in Marseille (+10.6%), Perpignan (+14.4%), Toulon (+9.8%) and Nice (+9.4%).

The South-West is not to be outdone since it is the geographical era where tariffs have increased the most, on average (+9.8%). A figure boosted by some medium-sized cities such as Niort (+14.5%) or La Rochelle (+8.5%).

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Conversely, in Île-de-France, the average price per square metre remained unchanged compared to the first three months of the previous year. In Paris, it rose only 1.7% to 12,610 euros. To find a trace of a decline in rates at the beginning of 2023, we must look to the east of the France. Nancy saw its prices fall by 2.1% compared to the first quarter of 2022. This trend was similar in Grenoble (-0.9%) and Lyon, the third largest city in France, where rates contracted by 1%.