The year 2024 was marked by a wave of bankruptcies in the real estate agency sector, with 1,243 failures recorded. However, certain positive signals, notably a drop in insolvencies at the end of the year, give hope for an improvement for 2025.
Real estate agencies under pressure
The year 2024 continues a difficult period for the real estate sector in France. According to the Altares firm, 1,243 real estate agencies went bankrupt, a figure up 36% compared to 2023, when 912 failures were recorded. In just three years, the number of bankruptcies has quadrupled, a phenomenon reminiscent of the 2009 crisis.
This situation is mainly explained by the collapse in sales of old homes, which fell by 11% in 2024 to reach 775,000 transactions, after a fall of 22% in 2023. Since their peak in 2021, sales have fallen by 36 %. “ If the figures remain bad for 2024, the number of insolvencies fell by around 10% in the fourth quarter, which is a good signal », indicates to the Echos Thierry Millon, director of studies at Altares.
Real estate loan brokers recorded a drop in insolvencies of 48% in the last quarter of 2024 and 8% over the year. These more encouraging results show that certain segments are more resilient than others.
The failures affect both independent agencies and networks. Guillaume Martinaud, president of Orpi, testifies: “ We have lost employees and around a hundred agencies in two years. » Conversely, Square Habitat, Crédit Agricole's real estate network, recorded few closures, making do with a few agency groupings.
Towards a recovery in 2025?
The most vulnerable structures remain those recently created or single-activity, depending solely on real estate transactions. « The crisis, however, has virtues: it can encourage certain companies to reposition themselves », Underlines Loïc Cantin, president of the National Real Estate Federation (Fnaim). Developing complementary activities, such as rental management or property management, seems to be a path to resilience.
-For 2025, Fnaim forecasts a moderate recovery with 825,000 transactions, an increase of 6% compared to 2024. This improvement could also benefit real estate agents, these independent professionals working without a physical agency. Despite a drop in their number in 2024, their performance was better than that of traditional agencies over the last two quarters.
The real estate sector is therefore going through a period of transformation, marked by difficulties but also opportunities to redefine its economic models. The final figures, expected in February, will make it possible to better understand the extent of these changes.
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