The amount of new real estate loans, excluding renegotiations, fell again in March, to 6.7 billion euros, the lowest volume in almost ten years. The previous month it was 7.4 billion euros. However, the average interest rate for these new loans is more favorable to borrowers, according to the same source, going from 4.11% in February to 3.94% in March, the second consecutive month of decline after the peak in January (4 ,17%). .
These rates exclude taxes and insurance. Including costs, the rate from January to March was 4.79% for a period of twenty years or more, according to the Banque de France. While this downward movement and bank demands are likely to stimulate the market, real estate candidates are not rushing to the gate.
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The main obstacle unites all market operators: the still high property prices. The cost of credit, significant for loan candidates even with the start of the decline in rates, weighs on families’ real estate purchasing power. Finally, banks and intermediaries believe that the market is hindered by some rules decreed by the High Council for Financial Stability (HCSF), which regulates, among other things, the conditions for granting real estate loans, in particular in terms of rental investments .
The home loan market has been driven in recent weeks by a bill proposed by Renaissance MP Lionel Causse, supported by Bercy, aimed at reforming the HCSF. Criticized by the Bank of France and emptied of substance by numerous amendments, this bill was finally withdrawn last Monday by its author.