REPORTAGE. "The client is fighting to get financing": with tightening credit conditions and still-high property prices, the real‑estate market is slowing

In Angoulême, in Charente, the dream of becoming an owner will soon become a reality for Magali and Jonathan. They are preparing to buy a 120 square meter house with a garden and three bedrooms. “We have been renting for a very long time.

We have two little girls. Today, we would like to be able to have our own house,” explains Jonathan. At 40, it’s a first purchase and a guarantee of security.

“The situation has just become a little more stable for us, well, especially for me. So that’s also why we’re doing it,” continues the forty-year-old. “I’ve been on a permanent contract for a while.

So it's the right opportunity", agrees Magali. Also read Real estate: The markets are slowing down The rise in property loan rates (nearly 4% today over 25 years), does not matter for the couple. "If that happens, we will wait and the rates will continue to increase.

Everything can be negotiated, even if we buy today at 3.5% or 4%, in two or three years, we will perhaps be able to renegotiate", hopes Jonathan. These first-time buyers therefore contact a broker to increase their chances of accessing property. The difficulty of convincing the banks This is the whole problem today: we have to convince the banks, explains Romain Martaud, real estate loan advisor.

"It's more complicated to buy today. That doesn't mean that we can't do it. But the customer is already fighting to have the financing, not to have the best conditions," he explains.

“They expect us to optimize financing through the different types of loans to which they will be entitled, whether for example a zero-rate loan, a first-time buyer loan, a zero-rate eco-loan if there is a lot of energy-related work. I work a lot in this sense, in fact, with craftsmen,” continues the advisor. Above all, banks are more cautious and conditions are getting tougher.

"We can have two people on permanent contracts. If there are already charges in place, if there are no savings, if the current functioning of the account is already a little strained, the bank will not go there. "Romain Martaud, real estate loan advisor at franceinfo "In terms of agreement, in terms of banking flexibility, really, it has changed," admits Romain Martaud.

However, the broker insists. Real estate projects remain present in Angoulême and Charente where the average price per square meter today stands at 1,590 euros. “The priority remains to become an owner, because, even if rates are rising, it is still more judicious to buy at a high rate than to remain a tenant.

Today, that's the trend we have," analyzes the advisor. "We have fewer buyers but more quality ones" Sandra and Maxime, a couple in their thirties, confirm. "We are owners.

Machine-translated from French