After years of scarcity and a slight recovery in 2015, 2016 is showing numbers we were no longer accustomed to seeing. This revival of the real estate market is rather good news.
A bit of common sense and realism after the “Jacobin” years of the Duflot ministry and the effective lobbying actions of the economic players in the sector have put the situation back on track with a series of measures that have streamlined and revitalized the market.
The first piece of good news is the renewal of the PTZ+ (Zero Interest Loan Plus), whose expansion last year had generated enthusiasm in the profession. However, future owners must commit to renovation work representing at least a quarter of the total cost of the operation. Building tradespeople will certainly benefit from this.
In total, including new housing, the 2015 PTZ benefited 31,620 households over eight months, far from the government’s target of reaching 70,000 for the year (source: ministry).
The extension of the PTZ in older properties to all 30,000 municipalities in Zone C covers 90% of the territory and 40% of the population. This means that 8 out of 10 French people can benefit from these conditions.
Regarding the new sector, there should be no modifications to the Pinel scheme in 2016, which is very satisfactory according to reports. Thanks to Pinel, rental investment is gradually picking up and is expected to see a +20% increase this year.
The new draft law does not include any measures to boost construction, even though the 500,000 necessary homes are still awaited. By the third quarter, there were 345,000 homes.
As for the traditional real estate market, there is a significant recovery in demand. Prices have stabilized and will change very little. The trend is also towards an increase of +8 to 10% in the number of transactions for the year 2015. These are figures we had not seen in three years.
In parallel with all this, interest rates remain extremely low due to very little inflation.
All these indicators should contribute to the return of growth.
