“It took a long time but today the sellers are ready to negotiate”

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Le Pays Malouin: According to the latest real estate barometer, sales volumes are in free fall in the first half. And it is Ille-et-Vilaine, with – 22% which holds the record in Brittany. Is the sector experiencing one of its worst crises?

Alan Bitauld : We suffered from November until March. There was some damage in the business. Agencies have closed. I was scared too. When you see your cash flow melting like snow in the sun, it’s worrying. Decisions had to be made. We were twelve employees. Today, there are seven of us. I closed my Châteauneuf agency to refocus on that of Dol. But since April, as far as I’m concerned, things have been better. We’re leaving again. Slowly, but we’re leaving.

“Honestly, I don’t know where we’re going. The market remains fragile”

LPM: The sector, we remember, had already experienced a violent crisis in 2009.

A.B : Yes, but at the time, we had visibility over the next three or six months. Today – and I’ve been doing this job for 18 years – I honestly don’t know where we’re going. The market remains fragile.

LPM: Despite everything, transactions are picking up a little, with prices tending to fall.

A.B : It’s probably different on the coast but in my area yes. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that. It took a long time but today the sellers are ready to negotiate a little. We see offers at –5, –10% below the displayed price. The owners understood that we were in a difficult market and that to sell, you had to know how to lower your price a little, for fear of regretting it in three months.

“The post-covid euphoria is over”

LPM: You also say that the market is on the path to regularization.

A.B : Gone is the small, quiet house that sold in the blink of an eye to a Parisian. This post-Covid euphoria is over. We returned to a more traditional market. 17 years ago, I had 300 houses for sale in one agency and the phone rang 4-5 times a day. After Covid, I went back down to 60 properties for two agencies, and the phone sometimes rang up to fifty times a day. Today, I have around twenty calls for a stock of 120 goods. The situation has been resolved.

LPM: The Emerald Coast seems inaccessible for the majority of households. Let’s take the example of a couple who work in Saint-Malo and who have a budget of 250,000 euros to acquire a small house with a garden. How far will they have to go to realize their dream?

A.B : To the east of Dol-de-Bretagne, Baguer-Morvan, Baguer-Pican, Mont-Dol… We know it, we see it, the circle is growing around Saint-Malo. We should have bought in Saint-Jouan-des-Guérets fifteen years ago. Today, the town is overpriced. Even in Miniac-Morvan or La Fresnais, it becomes complicated.

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