The housing crisis intensifies

The number of new homes is in free fall: -11.5% for building permits granted over one year, – 8% for housing starts, reservations for new apartments are also plummeting. The grievances of real estate developers are multiple: building permits difficult to obtain in too long a period, with mayors who are reluctant to grant them, regulations that are too complex. Especially since at the same time, construction costs remain high.

CDC Habitat, the real estate subsidiary of the Caisse des dépôts, has just announced the order for 17,000 new housing units, including 5,000 social housing units, to give some perspective to a housing sector which is suffering from far too little supply.

The French are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain a mortgage

It’s the same on the demand side. Real estate developers are all the more worried as the rate of customer withdrawals is skyrocketing. Consequence of the rate hike initiated by the ECB: + 3.75% since last July. At the same time, files rejected by banks are piling up. And the prices, for the moment, are not falling.

Bercy also plans to loosen the reins a little on the conditions of access to mortgages, but this will be on the margins. Above all, the French must not be pushed into over-indebtedness, warns the Governor of the Banque de France. Decision expected mid-June.

Housing should also be announced by the government soon. Normally, at the end of a CNR (National Council for Refoundation) which lasted several months, with work led by two qualified personalities, the boss of the Nexity real estate group, and the general delegate of the Abbé Pierre foundation.

This “CNR housing” was initially scheduled for Tuesday, May 9, it was finally canceled, for the moment not officially rescheduled, to the chagrin of players in the sector who are waiting for the first item of household expenditure to finally become a priority for the executive.