France Blue Saint-Etienne Loire : Real estate prices are on the rise. The square meter in Saint-Etienne has increased by 200 euros in three years to reach 1,150 euros, against 950 euros in 2019. In the Forez mountains, prices have increased by 13% in one year. Is the evolution the same in Haute-Loire?
Sophie Sabot Barcet, notary in Monistrol-sur-Loire and President of the High Council of Notaries : Yes, we see the same thing in Haute-Loire. The average price of an old apartment has increased by more than 18% in the district of Yssingeaux. We are at €1,200 per square meter. In Puy en Velay, we are on 1,350 € per square meter.
And do you think it will continue to increase?
We are still in a somewhat special situation since we are in an economic and geopolitical context which remains dominated by uncertainties. Times are quite unstable. We believe that the real estate market will not be immune to this as well. There is a slight drop in volume and perhaps at some point, indeed, prices will be affected. Afterwards, we are on values compared to the whole of France, relatively low in our regions, so I think it is stabilizing.
Will the energy renovation of housing play a role in all this?
Yes, since by 2025 it will be prohibited to rent property in category G, then in 2028, prohibition for categories F. We already have a drop of 6% in one year in the prices of housing in these categories.
Notary, a very feminized profession
Since October 25, you have been the president of the Superior Council of Notaries, the first woman to hold this position for 80 years. Is it a pride?
Yes, it’s a pride, it’s a pride, it’s a double pride. Of course because there has never been a woman. However, the profession of notary has become highly feminized. Me, I arrived in the 2000s, there were 15% of women notaries. Today, there are 56%. So it’s true that a woman at the head of the Superior Council of Notaries was expected. And then a pride in also representing a territory. And that, too, is not trivial. I work in the territory of Haute-Loire, I am from Saint-Etienne. It makes a lot of sense to me too. So it’s a pride, yes.
And how do you see your role? It may be necessary to change the image of notaries, which is not necessarily very good.
I find that for some time now, the image of notaries has improved. Today, the average age of notaries is 44 with, as I told you, 56% women, so the image does not always really correspond to reality. We worked a lot on it, but we will continue because it is important. And then, when you are President of an institution like the Superior Council of Notaries, you represent the notaries of France, so you also engage in politics and represent them outside. We are in contact with a certain number of ministries and essentially, of course, with the Ministry of Justice.
You talked about the youth of your profession. Are you currently having trouble recruiting or, on the contrary, is this a buoyant area?
Recruitment is complicated everywhere. Among notaries, we have gone from 60,000 employees to more than 80,000. So there are still 20,000 people who have joined our offices in a few years. The difficulty still exists, but we are persevering, we try to make ourselves known also, with the young public, we do a lot of advertising, we show ourselves on social networks, to make our profession known.