It’s D-day for the launch of Paralympic Games 2024. After the inauguration ceremony that takes place this Wednesday, August 28, the 4,400 Paralympic athletes will be housed in the Olympic village, in Seine-Saint-Denis. A place designed to host the athletes, but also designed to be transformed after the event into 2,800 accommodations (2,000 families, 800 students). In total, 6,000 residents could invest in this new neighborhood, which is certainly being built, but the work is far from complete.
“From the 1st of November we will start the conversion works, i.e. dismantling the partitions and temporary bathrooms, removing the coverings for the installation of the permanent parquet, repainting…”says Florence Chahid-Nourai, director of major projects in Île-de-France at Icade Promotion. The goal for the company? Delivery of 643 housing units “No later than the beginning of 2026″she points out. Note that of all the apartments sold by the developer Icade, only 238 are freely accessible. The rest will thus be transformed into social housing, student residences or even intermediate rental housing.
Redevelopment of the banks of the Seine, cycle paths, green terraces, islands of freshness thanks to the shared gardens, seven hectares of green spaces… Everything has been designed to build sustainably and attract buyers to this expanding neighborhood in three cities: Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen and the island of Saint-Denis. “We can answer four major subjects: carbon, how to reduce it drastically, the question of climate change, the economy of materials and biodiversity”Nicolas Ferrand, executive general manager of Solideo (Olympic works delivery company), recently explained to AFP. It remains to be seen whether developers such as Nexity, Icade, Eiffage or Vinci Immobilier have found buyers.
Launch in slow motion
Icade is one of the first companies to launch in the marketing of its apartments. To start, 88 housing units were put on the market in the summer of 2023, with a price per m.2 around 7,500 euros per m2i.e. a higher price than the rates recorded in the area from The best agents. According to the latter, the average price per m2 it is 6,400 euros in Saint-Ouen, a city where Icade accommodation is sold. “We had difficulty attracting customers, which forced us to reduce our prices to reach 6,900 euros per m2 on average »recognizes Florence Chahid-Nourai. With an almost identical starting price, Vinci Immobilier also assured last year that it had adjusted its prices.
It must be said that the period chosen by these two promoters was not ideal. During the months, interest rates continued to rise in 2023, rising on average from 3.46% in June to 4.2% in December. At the same time, the number of loans granted by banks was in free fall. A situation that obviously has no benefit on the new market.
Return buyers
But since “February – March”Icade observes a renewed interest in its accommodation in the Olympic village. “We now have ten bookings per month”underlines Florence Chahid-Nourai. In total, 60% of the apartments put on the market have been sold, or 55 houses. Among buyers, 90% are first time buyers. The latter were also able to benefit from a VAT of 5.5%, compared to the usual 20%, because these apartments are located in a priority area, called “ANRU zone”. Enough to reduce the price for m2going from 6,900 euros on average to 6,100 euros.
“Maybe the excitement around the Olympics contributed to this good dynamic?” asks the IDF director of Icade. Adding to this is a more favorable market for buyers. Because since January, interest rates have dropped. Currently, the average rate for real estate loans is 3.71% for a new property purchase, according to Housing Credit Observatory/CSA. In addition, banks lend more.
Enough to encourage Icade to put up for sale 56 additional apartments to meet demand, particularly by offering two- and three-bedroom apartments, which are particularly popular. “We already have five customers who have put an option on housing”the company whispers to us. The sale will be available after the Paralympic Games, around mid-September. As for other developers, Vinci Immobilier has just applied a 6% discount to several three-room apartments still for sale. Of the 174 apartments available, 16 are still for sale. For example, it is possible to find a three-room duplex for 419,000 euros, or almost 6,000 euros per m2.
The Eiffage and Nexity group, for its part, preferred to wait for a more favorable market and has not yet marketed its 145 housing units. Marketing is planned “Between 2 November 2024 and the end of April 2025 at the latest”Eiffage tells us. It remains to be determined whether the prices for m2 will be identical to those of competitors.