Europe 1 / Photo credit: Mathieu Thomasset / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 5:32 p.m., February 29, 2024

Despite a drop in rates and a rebalancing of real estate prices, the start of the year is mixed for the sector.

Prices are stabilizing or even falling depending on the region, but strong disparities also persist.

After a very tense 2023 for the real estate market, will 2024 be better?

A priori

, yes, in particular thanks to the drop in rates, below 4%, and a rebalancing of goods prices.

However, the year 2024 seems to be off to a difficult start, even if this could become unblocked during the year, as analyzed by the Guy Hocquet Observatory.

At the start of the year, many buyers are relaunching their real estate project.

If this is only a trend for the moment, it could help unblock the market in the medium term.

However, "we should not expect a significant drop in real estate prices as long as there is no revival of supply, nor a policy to support demand", analyzes Stéphane Fritz , president of Guy Hoquet l'Immobilier.

“The banks are in the conquest phase”

“Most of the downward movement is probably over for a few weeks,” confirms Maël Bernier, spokesperson for Meilleurtaux.

“For the month of February, we are observing a stabilizing trend even if further declines here and there are not impossible for certain profiles. Nevertheless, the news remains good because the choice in the banking offering has clearly widened. The banks are all in the conquest phase and are positioning themselves on the real estate loan market,” he explains.

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For example, a system allowing the re-examination of unapproved property loans at the request of customers was put in place by banks this month, and will be in force until the end of the year.

Disparities depending on the territory

As for prices, they are stabilizing at the start of the year.

Houses, which are more sought after, have seen their prices increase slightly, by 2.6% in one year, while apartments have fallen slightly, by 1.5%.

However, strong geographical disparities remain, with a drop in the price per square meter in Ile-de-France, and as far as Centre-Val de Loire, a stabilization of prices in Corsica, Burgundy-Franche-Comté and Occitanie, but rising prices in coastal regions, particularly in Brittany and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, explains the Guy Hocquet Observatory.

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Likewise, towns with more than 200,000 inhabitants seem to attract buyers less, and are thus affected by a drop in prices per square meter.

The only exceptions: Marseille and Nice, where prices increased by 1.2% and 9.2% respectively.

For cities with less than 200,000 inhabitants, less than one in two see their values ​​drop.

What can you buy with 2,000 euros of net income, borrowing over 25 years?

A buyer with 2,000 euros of net income, who would have a contribution of 30%, could finance a property worth around 200,000 euros.

This corresponds to a 17m2 studio in Paris... or a 161m2 property in Saint-Quentin, in Aisne.

Generally speaking, the price per square meter is more affordable in the northern half of the country.