The patient is not yet ready to regain their color, but the worst that was expected did not ultimately happen. Here is the summary of the quarterly bulletin that the powerful association of independent real estate agents delivered recently.
Naturally, for operators accustomed to the prosperous period prior to 2007 when price increase rates were double digits, nothing is going very well, but, as should be known, “semel in anno licet insanire,” wrote Seneca; more prosaically, the exception is not the rule!
In fact, prices did not decline as feared and, in Nice, remained stable at 4,136 euros per square meter while the negotiation time returned to a not-too-bad figure of 91 days (compared to 104 days a year ago).
Frédéric Pelou, President of Fnaim Côte d’Azur, expressed cautious satisfaction: “Prices are still holding, and sellers remain relatively insensitive to the financial capacities of the majority of prospective buyers. However, there is a slight resurgence of activity in the rental investment sector from buyers disenchanted with financial investments who are redirecting their savings towards the medium-term security that real estate investment represents,” he tells us.
But, but… it’s not over, and here come the timely criticisms: “The main wish of the profession is clear visibility of the real estate’s legal and fiscal environment. The announced ‘unraveling’ of the DUFLOT Law, if it materializes for investment in new properties, is currently just talk regarding resale. Yet, it is the latter that mechanically fuels the new property market and represents 80% of transaction volume. The announced simplification of the sale process in co-ownership, which has been significantly slowed since last March by the DUFLOT Law, is still awaited, as is the myriad of decrees that were supposed to clarify this Law. In light of these legal and technical uncertainties, how can confidence, the main driver of real estate purchasing, be fostered?”
The Fnaim intends to follow up the critiques with proposals, with the basic ideas still focused on primarily reviving the existing and inactive housing market.
