This is good news for borrowers: rates are falling: 7 out of 10 banks now show rates between 3.5% and 3.9% in October. “We see exceptional cases at 3.2% over 20 years. I even saw a 3.15% over 25 years», Notes Maël Bernier, spokesperson for Meilleur Taux, a real estate loan broker. Therefore, borrowers who bought before the drop in rates may be tempted to renegotiate their mortgage. “Credit renegotiations only represent 3% of requests in 2024 but it is already more than in June», figures Maël Bernier.
In June, they actually weighed less than 2%. However, for the moment we remain in very low proportions. As a reminder, in 2020, during certain periods, when rates collapsed, renegotiations represented half of the files. At Vousfinancer, the number of renegotiations amounts to barely ten.
Still too early
Today, only people who signed with rates higher than 4.20%, that is to say signed last fall, are affected by the renegotiation of credits. However, it was precisely at this time that the production of new real estate loans was the lowest, which explains the few renegotiations recorded by Meilleur Taux. “Theoretically, on paper, this could be the time to renegotiate your credit. Rates currently hover around 3.50% over 20 years compared to 4.30% at the end of 2023. The recommended gap between these two rates is there. Renegotiating your credit is interesting from 0.7 point difference and here we have 0.8 point difference. However, the credits which could be affected by a renegotiation are too recent, so in practice, it is not interesting. We recommend having amortized your credit for 2 years to renegotiate», Recommends Sandrine Allonier, spokesperson for the Vousfinancer network of real estate loan brokerage agencies.
Same story from Pierre de Buhren, general manager of the Empruntis group, another broker: “It is probably a little early to talk about a general opportunity for renegotiation of recently produced credits. Rates are falling further and we are far from reaching a floor.” He adds: “It is important to remember that renegotiation and repurchases by an external bank cannot be separated. It is in fact the potential for external redemption and therefore loss for the customer which will encourage the bank to consider renegotiating their credit for them. Today, the rate cuts which can go up to 100 basis points compared to a loan disbursed at the end of 2023 do not seem sufficient to constitute real opportunities for renegotiation. It is in fact important to consider all the costs inherent in the repurchase of credit (early repayment compensation, guarantee costs, insurance costs which may be higher etc.) to measure the interest of a buyout».
«However, certain credits, particularly the longest and highest, would already benefit from carrying out this operation. However, we advise everyone to wait a little because the operation will be even more profitable when rates approach 3.2%, probably by the end of the year.», suggests Maël Bernier. Within two to three months, the gain will therefore be more substantial. The risk for borrowers who negotiate now is that they start the process today and start the operation again in a few months. “With the lowest rates around 3.2%, compared to average rates of more than 4.5% at the end of 2023, the operation can be beneficial. In any case, it is time to go see a professional, because if for some the renegotiation is not yet interesting today, it could be within a few months, you might as well prepare for it», concludes Caroline Arnould, general manager of the broker Cafpi.
