After a very disruptive 2023 for real estate, the beginning of 2024 suggests the beginning of a recovery.
However, the drop in prices is still too timid, the network of real estate agencies Orpi estimates it at -3%, which is not enough to significantly revive the market.
Uneven price decline
After already seeing a 3% drop in prices at the end of 2023, Orpi estimates the same drop in the first quarter of 2024.
Among the major cities of France, Paris shows a decrease of 4% compared to the first quarter of 2023, with Lyon recording prices at -1%, Montpellier at -5% and Bordeaux at -9%.
“If this decline is a positive signal for buyers who can plan again, the real estate market is more plural than ever, with strong differences depending on the territory”notes Orpi.
In the first quarter of 2024, compared to the first quarter of 2023, the decline in prices accelerates in Marseille (- 21%), Limoges (- 25%), Vannes (- 15%).
Cities where prices keep rising
On the contrary, in some cities the correction has not yet taken place: for example, Strasbourg, which still records a price increase of 14%, Avignon (+ 16%), Brest (+ 10%) and Nantes (+ 7%). %).
A price hike that causes sales volume to drop by more than 20% in these last three areas…
Half activity
The number of property valuations is starting to rise again (+20% in the fourth quarter of 2023 for Orpi) and sales are slowly starting to rise: +2% compared to the last months of 2023.
However, the number of sales contracts has not returned to the high level of 2022, with a 19% decline in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023, Orpi suggests.
The rental market is under high tension
The drying up of the rental housing market continues at the beginning of the year: the park has never had so many tenants in the face of difficulties in buying a main residence.
An ever-increasing share, with INSEE already representing 40% of the population in 2022 and facing a shrinking supply.
Orpi saw a decrease in the number of rental mandates by 31% in Lille, 25% in Paris and 16% in Marseille.