You have often heard it for months: the borrowing conditions offered by the French real estate market have reached historical levels. And inevitably, this exceptional situation has encouraged many households to take out a mortgage on particularly advantageous terms, which has resulted in a level of outstandings never seen.
Outstanding debt exceeds 1000 billion euros
By analyzing the November 2018 data, the Francia Bank has established that the French are now in debt at the level of 1 trillion euros in the mortgage market. A record figure, which is equivalent to the amount of compulsory levies to which the French were subjected in 2017, but also to nearly half of the country’s public debt. It must be said that particularly advantageous borrowing conditions have led many households to invest heavily in real estate, mainly for the purchase of a principal residence (in two out of three cases).
2018, year favorable to borrowers
Some feared a substantial rise in mortgage rates for 2018, but it did not happen. On average, real estate loan rates in 2018 thus increased during the year from 1.51% to 1.44%, according to figures from the Housing Credit / CSA Observatory. The decline is 10 basis points on 10-year contracts, 12 points over 20 years and 16 points over 25 years. According to Gamora, this fall in mortgage rates is equivalent to a reduction in the total loan cost of € 2,600 for a borrowed amount of € 200,000 over 20 years (€ 1,600 over 15 years, € 4,600 over 25 years ).
What about 2019?
While some believe that the introduction of attrition rates could slow down sector activity, most real estate market specialists do not expect a turnaround in the first half of 2019. The central bank recently Despite its policy of buying back assets, it has nevertheless decided to keep rates low for the next six months. A situation that is confirmed in the facts, banks being conquering at the beginning of the year.
