The real estate market is starting to become buyer-friendly.
Being close to the sea, having a well-served TGV station, attracting 46,000 students each year and, above all, offering houses with gardens on the real estate market at attractive prices, in a charming setting. A description that would make more than one town in France pale and which has the potential to arouse the interest of a good number of French people. With the consequence of making real estate prices soar.
In four years, the surge was such that, for a loan of 170,000 euros, it was no longer possible to buy more than 47 m² in June 2023, compared to 94 m² at the end of 2019! Half as much! A trend that has faded and is even starting to reverse, to the point that future buyers can now buy bigger.
Nestled less than two hours from the Atlantic Ocean, 1 hour 20 minutes from Paris by TGV, 45 minutes from an international airport and ranked for the third consecutive year as the best city in which to live, Angers has serious assets. Problem is, it has attracted too many people.
“There was a post-Covid arrival of Parisians, people with strong purchasing power. People were selling in Paris so they arrived with means,” explains Maël Bernier, head of communications at Meilleurtaux. But that’s not all: “A lot of people from Nantes also came to settle in Angers. It’s cheaper, less congested and only a 45-minute drive away.” Enough to cause a boom in the local real estate market.
However, the company specializing in real estate loans notes that the situation is starting to reverse. A recent study shows that for a loan of 1000 euros per month, it is now possible to buy 55m² in Angers, compared to 47m² in June 2023. “This is explained by the drop in bank rates (from 4.20% to 3.55%) and prices that are stabilizing, or even falling. Currently, prices have finished climbing and are in line with the situation”, analyzes Maël Bernier. An additional 8m², not necessarily enough to have an extra room (generally a minimum of 9m²), but to have a larger living room and/or bathroom, for example.
However, even if the context seems to be improving for the buyer, there is no point in waiting to be able to gain a little more in purchasing power. The downward dynamic is not going to accelerate. “If you sign a loan today, yes, it may drop in the future. But you should not expect rates to drop below 3%. Now, it will drop a little, but we will not be at 3%”, projects Maël Bernier. Perhaps the ideal time to consider a purchase project?