In Toulouse, sales have fallen and rental prices have climbed

Decryption After the end of the year at a standstill, sellers are taking stock of a necessary drop in prices. What to unwind the market in spring?

Toulouse is now the fourth most populous city in France – behind Paris, Marseille and Lyon – with more than 500,000 inhabitants, indicates INSEE. Its attractiveness cannot be denied: this city is the one which welcomes the most new inhabitants, +1.1% each year, attracted by its easy way of life, its good economic health… and its property prices considered reasonable. In 2023, it was ranked eighth among the most expensive metropolises in France, according to notaries. As elsewhere, the real estate market has turned around over the past year in the Haute-Garonne prefecture and the year ended with rather mediocre performances. “Sales volumes plummeted by 20%. But sellers have so far been reluctant to lower their prices. Which, faced with buyers desolved by the rise in credit rates, blocked all transactions until mid-January,” summarizes Frédéric Giral, president of the interdepartmental chamber of notaries of the Toulouse Court of Appeal.

Same observation within the National Real Estate Federation (Fnaim): “In Toulouse, we recorded 8,150 sales in old properties in 2023, including 6,900 apartments and 1,250 houses, i.e. a drop in volume of 20% and prices which fell by 1.5%, to 3,550 €/m² on average “, confirms Sébastien Bénet, president of Fnaim de Haute-Garonne.

Industrial accident in sight?

On the ground, all types of property, in all neighborhoods,…