Housing market crisis: falling sales and prices...

The real estate market continues to suffer from inflation and rising interest rates. Real estate prices are falling and the crisis is only getting worse. According to FNAIM's monthly real estate barometer for October, prices in Paris are down 5.2% year-over-year.

The housing sector is facing a market reversal that could continue. By the end of 2023, a historic record 21% decline in sales (to 885,000 sales) for the year is expected, along with falling prices coupled with continued inflation. Overall, the housing market has gone from one shortage to another: with the real estate transaction lockout, the shortage of properties for sale has shrunk dramatically, but has turned into a shortage of properties for rent. At the same time, housing supply is insufficient, especially in''some tense areas.

"The crisis is serious and we are only at the beginning of its development," says Loic Canten, president of FNAIM. This situation should worry public authorities, who do not seem to realize the full measure of the crisis that threatens the real estate market and blocks access to housing for many French people. At a time when the situation calls for active policies to support property acquisition, accompany construction and help private landlords to rent out their properties on long-term leases, the urgency for action is growing.

"The decline in the number of transactions is accelerating from 2023 to 955,000 sales in France (-17% for the year) at the end of August 2023," notes Emmanuel Lebay, director' of the'economic research. This has caused prices to decline (-0.8% from January 1 to October 1, 2023) after several years of growth.