2023-09-13 13:12:43
«Touched flowed!» This maxim, well known to naval battle enthusiasts, was taken up by the Building Federation to summarize the crisis currently experienced by new housing in France. After the apartments, it’s the turn of the houses, the dream for more than 75% of households, to look dull. Sales fell by more than 38%, between July 2022 and July 2023 (see below), according to the French Building Federation (FFB). Over the first seven months of the year, 303,000 construction starts (housing actually started, editor’s note) were recorded. As in 1991, the year which preceded the historic low points of 1992 and 1993 (see below). The fault is the surge in credit rates which is hitting potential home buyers hard. The latter, according to INSEE, often live in rural communities and do not have sufficiently high incomes to cope with this increase in the cost of credit. “If nothing is done in the 2024 finance bill to stop the fall, we are heading straight for disaster in 2024 and 2025“, warns Olivier Salleron, president of the FFB, which is counting on 150,000 job losses in construction by 2025.
The leader demands from the government “emergency measures“. The scheduled end in 2025 of the Pinel tax exemption system which has boosted the market for years, worries house builders as well as developers. The same goes for the zero-interest loan which, of course, will be extended but under stricter conditions. “Aware of the crisis» which is affecting housing in France, the new Minister of Housing is working on a decree to broaden the criteria for access to PTZ. «The criteria do not allow the middle classes to be able to access (at the PTZ), declared Patrice Vergriete Tuesday on Franceinfo. We are looking at whether we can modify these criteria to allow more people into these very tense areas. (demand exceeds supply, editor’s note) to be able to access the PTZ.»
[LOGEMENT NEUF] The situation upstream of the sector remains very bad:
️ Between the first half of 2022 and the first half of 2023, sales collapsed by 35% in both diffuse individual and real estate development;
️ Barely more than 150,000 units cumulatively over 12 months as of… pic.twitter.com/d1CmbVI7A4— FFB (@FFBatiment) September 13, 2023
[LOGEMENT NEUF] On an annual basis over the first 7 months of 2023, we recorded 303,000 construction starts. #housingas in 1991, before the historic low points of 1992 and 1993 (≈ 275,000 units).
️ If nothing is done in the 2024 finance bill to… pic.twitter.com/nLZ4AfBbOp— FFB (@FFBatiment) September 13, 2023
But, on the subject of aid, the philosophy of Olivier Klein’s successor is more in line with that desired by Emmanuel Macron: save more on housing. The President of the Republic has often pointed out the cost of housing assistance – which amounts to 38 billion euros per year, according to the latest report on the Housing Accounts – which is too high for his taste. Forgetting that the sector also brings in more than 90 billion euros. In the entourage of the Minister of Housing, we assure that “there will be no less help» but we also assume a policy of decentralization where the State “will give more tools to local communities» to act in the face of the crisis and will have a role of “strategist and guarantor.»
#House #sales #plummeting #France