What if it was time to get some good real estate deals? While from a national point of view, houses are currently struggling to sell more than apartments, the phenomenon is more amplified in the countryside. According to the recent annual report on rural land markets carried out by Safer (land development and rural settlement company), the housing market in the countryside is simply “stalled”. The decline in sales that began in 2022 has in fact accelerated in 2023 to fall below the 100,000 transaction mark and, above all, the decline in prices is even greater than that of sales volumes.
In detail, transactions fell by 24.2% (to 90,750) while the overall value fell by 27% to reach an average lot valued at 202,000 euros (-4.1% in a year). The surface of the average lot has also fallen by 4.6% but remains significant: 5,200 m². In a dashboard where everything is in a downward trend, one indicator catches the eye: the average age of buyers. It has increased significantly by 7 months to reach 46 years and 2 months. The explanation is quickly found: the strictness of the conditions of access to credit and the increase interest rate it mainly affects younger people, who are starting out in life and/or have limited savings. Furthermore, the proportion of foreign buyers remains stable at 4.7% even though they represent more than 10% in the Provençal hinterland, Poitou, Limousin as well as in the border areas of Belgium and Luxembourg.
The declining north
As for prices, although they remain high in coastal areas and in the Paris region, there are now seven departments where average prices are less than 100,000 euros. (see infographic) and also two under the 80,000 euro mark. In this context of a general drop in prices and the market, only the departments of Ile-de-France (Yvelines, Essonne, Seine-et-Marne) and Haute-Savoie experienced price increases of more than 10 %. On the front of the decrease, the biggest drops are observed in the northern half of the territory (Sarthe, Aisne, Côte-d’Or) but also in the Maritime Alps (- 13%). Among the curiosities: Haute-Marne and northern Burgundy where prices fall while activity is maintained.