The average rate observed in France on real estate loans stood at 3.46% in October, down compared to September, according to the Housing Credit Observatory / CSA.
Everything is going as planned. Real estate loan rates continue to decline at a steady pace. The average rate (all loan durations combined) thus stood at 3.46% in October, compared to 3.54% in September, according to the Crédit Logement Observatory / CSA, a drop of 8 basis points.
The decline which had slowed down a little this summer, at a rate of 2 basis points per month. But this fall, thanks to revisions to banking scales, the ECB's rate cut in October and the decline in usury rates, real estate rates are falling at a sustained pace.
In detail, the average rate is 3.41% for new property ownership and 3.49% for existing property. It stands at 3.34% for a 15-year loan, 3.39% over 20 years and 3.45 over 25 years, again according to the Crédit Logement Observatory / CSA.
“Towards stabilization”
According to the broker Vousfinancer, the rates fall by 0.10 percentage points, and go down to 3.20% over 15 years, 3.40% over 20 years and 3.60% over 25 years. But part of the banks' rates are now stable, particularly for those which had already lowered their rates significantly in recent months.
“So we could move towards stabilization in the coming weeks, around 3.3% over 20 years, before a year of 2025 for which we still lack visibility…”, analyzes Julie Bachet, general director of Vousfinancer.
“In any case, there is no point in waiting for greater rate cuts, it is time to take action,” she adds.
Buyers seem to have understood this well since they are returning to the market with credit production which is increasing by 16% quarterly, according to Crédit logement / CSA.
This drop in rates benefits real estate purchasing power. According to calculations by the broker Capfi, combined with the decline in prices, for example, it allowed borrowers to acquire an additional room in October (10.81 m²) in Nantes compared to October 2023. This is also an additional 8.43 m² obtained in Toulouse, 7.49 m² in Strasbourg and more than 6 m² in Lille, Marseille, Montpellier and even Reims.
