In the third quarter, there were only 16,201 new home bookings across France.
Reservations of new housing by individuals with developers continued to decline in the 3rd quarter of 2023 with a year-on-year decrease of 39.7%, according to provisional statistics of the Ministry for Ecological Transformation. The number of reservations, which stood at 16,201, has been in continuous decline for six quarters, in an economic context that is very unfavorable for new construction.
The number of new homes offered for sale by developers follows the same trend, with a year-on-year decrease of 34.9% to 19,371. On the one hand, developers are caught between rising construction costs caused by material prices and more demanding environmental standards; on the other hand, the erosion of buyers’ purchasing power, difficult access to real estate loans.
Outstanding apartments for sale are reaching record highs
The outstanding number of homes for sale, i.e. the entire supply that has not yet found a buyer, reached new heights with 131,414 homes available. Cancellations represent the equivalent of 24.5% of bookings for the quarter, which is “a particularly high weight compared to previous years”, the ministry notes.
“Block” sales of all or part of schemes to major players (social landlords, institutional investors) jumped 20% in one quarter (13,723), with the state asking Caisse des Dépôts et consignations (CDC) and Action Logement to buy back schemes from developers, to support them.
Bookings fell by 32% in one year in the busiest areas (Paris metropolitan area, the cities of Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Montpellier, part of the Mediterranean coast and Geneva, France). However, their decline is particularly pronounced in zones B1, consisting mainly of the centers of large cities and overseas departments (-46%), and B2, which corresponds to small cities and peripheral parts of the largest (-39%).