Real estate crisis obliges, the price per square meter fell by 9.9% in Parisover the past two years, according to the networkreal estate agencies Century 21 France. Nevertheless, 9 321 eurosthe average price per square meter in the capital is not within the reach of all budgets. And, despite its plunge of almost 10% between the end of 2022 and the end of 2024, it still displays a jump of 25% over the last ten years. Apart from rich foreigners who buy a pied-à-terre in the City of Lights in cash, who today has the means to acquire accommodation in Paris?
Almost half (49.8%) of people who bought a property in the capital in 2024 are senior executives or liberal professionsaccording to Century 21 France. Next come middle managers (35.9%), then, far behind, employees and workers (4.7%), traders and craftsmen (2.7%), as well as retirees (6.9%). . “It’s rare for retirees to buy in Paris. On the contrary, they sell their Parisian apartment to settle in the provinces”explains Charles Marinakis, president of Century 21 France. In fact, people aged over 60 represent only 15% of Parisian buyers, compared to proportions of 30.7% and 20.3% for 30/40 year olds and 40/50 year olds, respectively.
Real estate purchase: in which regions can you negotiate the highest discounts?
An apartment with an area of less than 50 square meters
So what are these senior executives and liberal professions in their forties or fifties buying? A main residencefor more than 60% of them. Rental investments represent just over a quarter of real estate purchases made in the capital in 2024, compared to a peak of 32.5% in 2021. The consequences of rent control since 2019, high prices and the progressive ban of the rental of thermal strainerswhich abound in Paris. The main residence purchased is an apartment with an average surface area of… 48.6 square meters. At more than 9,000 euros per square meter, “What sells least well in Paris are the large Haussmannian bourgeois apartments. A couple with a child must fit into 53 square meters in the capital…”underlines Charles Marinakis. Who wonders “if there are many large families left in Paris”.
This small apartment of less than 50 square meters, senior executives and liberal professions paid on average 441 661 euros to become owners. An amount financed 67.1% by a loan. Our senior executives do not box in the same category as the Anglo-Saxons, among others, who pay cash for their part of the 6th or 7th arrondissement, the most exclusive districts of the capital.
