Rents are increasing, but not exploding: this is the assessment for 2022 of the Private Park Rent Observatory (Clameur) – which only takes into account the rents fixed at the signing of a lease contract, and not those already signed — issued by rental management professionals (private individuals are excluded), to be published this Tuesday, March 21, and which we reveal to you exclusively. Rents for apartments increased in 2022 by 1.39% in France (median values) to 13.91 euros/m2, i.e. as much as in 2021. Rents for houses increased by 1.21% to €11.92/m2.
“The rent control mechanisms: the framework in certain cities and the capping of the Rent Reference Index (IRL) — an index that serves as a reference for revising the rent — have played their role well and avoided an explosion in rents “, rejoices its president, Jean-Michel Camizon. “It’s already too much,” said Eddie Jacquemart, president of the National Housing Confederation (CNL).
Over five years, rents for apartments have risen by 6.71% and those for houses by 6.43%. However, these amounts do not take into account the charges, which represent 6% to 10% of rent, which are rising sharply under the cumulative effects of inflation (7% in 2022), the surge in the cost of energy and materials.
Disparate rents according to surfaces and cities
These rents vary according to the surfaces. Studios, among the most in demand, remain those that have increased the most: almost 9% in five years (+ 1.52% over one year) to 18.30 euros/m2 on average. Rents for two-room and three-room apartments also rise, respectively by nearly 8% (13.52 euros/m2) and 6.7% (11.44 euros/m2) between 2018 and 2022.
Sign of the tension of the national market, Clameur notes a sharp decline in the duration of online advertisements: studios and two-room apartments generally remain online for 15 days, which is 4 and 5 days less than in 2018. Less in demand, family apartments (T3 and more) remain available a little longer, 20 days (– 5 days).
A geographical look also makes it possible to note significant differences in rent depending on the town. Thus Brest (+ 11.73% to 14.27 euros/m2) and Avignon (+ 11.49% to 16.71 euros/m2) are those whose studio rents have increased the most in one year. For two-room apartments, Voiron (+9.91% to 11.74 euros/m2) and Saint-Étienne (+10.81% to 8.94 euros/m2) come out on top, while for larger apartments , it is Saint-Denis (+ 9.81% to 12.47 euros/m2) and Mulhouse (+ 7.70% to 8.20 euros/m2) which stand out in 2022.
Paris and Neuilly at the top of the highest prices
As for the highest rents, we find them, without any real surprise, in Paris and Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine), elbow-to-elbow whatever the surface, with a palm for T1 at 33.69 euros/m2 in Neuilly against 30.80 euros/m2 on average in Paris, subject to rent controls.
“Cities in western Paris are always more dynamic in terms of sale and rental prices than in the east,” explains Arnaud Simon, scientific director of the Observatory and research professor at Paris Dauphine University. Although Paris and Neuilly remain in the lead, there has been stagnation, or even a slight decline, in their prices per square meter: – 3.54% in Neuilly, against 0.20% in Paris for three-room apartments. In Paris, the price per square meter of studios even fell by 0.34%, which can be explained by the control of rents and the impact of teleworking which may have triggered a move to action by Parisians who were thinking to relocate “.
Stronger increases on the west facade
If in Paris, rents are no longer increasing, this is far from being the case in the west of the country, popular for buying but also for renting since the pandemic. Like selling prices, rents are increasing, particularly those of studios in Angers (+ 8.60% in one year), Saint-Nazaire (+ 5.12%) and Rouen (+ 4.27% ). At regional level, it is also in Brittany and the Pays de la Loire that the duration of leases is increasing the most. “They increased by 1 year and 3 months in Brittany between 2018 and 2022 and by 9 months in the Pays de la Loire, mobility is reduced, tenants stay longer in their homes, reports Arnaud Simon. And when an apartment is rented out, it leaves faster: in 10 days compared to 22 in 2018 in Brittany and 8 days instead of 15 in the Pays de la Loire, proof of the scarcity of rental supply in the face of a demand which remains sustained”.
Advertisements for house rentals also sell out twice as fast: within 7 days in both regions! “This is the sign of an exodus of urban dwellers from very large metropolises to medium-sized cities with the increase in teleworking where renting serves as an antechamber to a future purchase”, estimates the scientist.
But teleworking would not justify everything. The soaring prices – for sale as well as for rental – of second homes such as Airbnb rentals are not enough to explain the difficulties of coastal workers to find accommodation, according to the president of Clameur. “The rise in rents on the western and Mediterranean coasts is also due to the shift of a senior population who are leaving the big cities to settle by the sea, explains Jean-Michel Camizon. The population of retirees who rent there is on the rise according to INSEE. It is estimated that some of them rent first to see if the region is suitable before acquiring them later, which helps to drive up rents,” he adds.