There is no shortage of candidates ready to embark on a direct flight to their first home! The annual number of first-time buyers is estimated at 600,000, which represents a little more than one buyer in two. Indeed, the volume of transactions concluded in the old at the end of October 2021 on 12 months amounts to nearly 1,2 million, that is to say an increase of 14,5 % compared to 2019.
Values that reflect the strong interest of individuals in real estate. In this expedition which encourages many French people to launch out in their first real estate purchase, let us note that they decide to pass to the act increasingly young. The average age is indeed 32 years old in 2021, according to a study of the blog.comparimmoneuf.fr, against 37 years a few years before.
All these reasons encourage people to find out about home ownership as soon as they start working. A temptation which, against the backdrop of the health crisis, is largely turned towards housing that offers an exterior to get some fresh air and proposes a few extra square meters to telework...
This is a project that requires a little preparation in a rising real estate market. The increase in apartment prices in France should already reach 4.8% and that of houses 9.4% by the end of 2021 according to the latest figures presented by the French notaries.
However, there is no such thing as a fatality, since opportunities exist for all motivated buyers. As long as they work with their notary, all first-time buyers can take possession of their house or apartment with peace of mind and in complete security!
The first stage of the rocket to access your first home concerns financing. This is all the easier to achieve as interest rates on real estate loans are still low. Indeed, the average value over 20 years is 0.99% according to the Observatoire Crédit Logement / CSA in November 2021. It remains to take into account a new rule in the granting of credits since January 1st which limits the rate of indebtedness to 35% and the duration of repayment to 25 years.
In addition, there is the famous PTZ, a zero-rate loan, which can be granted depending on the geographical location of the property. Here are two levers that you absolutely must activate at the beginning of the year to finance your product more cheaply.
Which boosters ? Some devices are used to increase the purchasing power of real estate tenfold. A checklist is necessary before flying to your new property:
? The PTZ: it is used to finance the purchase of a new or old home located in large cities (zones A and B1) or medium-sized cities (zones B2 and C) with variations as shown in the table below:
Share of the price of the property FINANCED by the PTZ |
Zones A and B1 |
Zones B2 and C (medium-sized cities and rural areas) |
New housing |
40 % |
20 % |
Old housing with work |
- |
40 % |
To benefit from the PTZ, income must not exceed a resource ceiling that varies according to the location of the property and the number of occupants. Repayable over a period of 20 to 25 years, it can also give the right to a deferment of 5, 10 or 15 years to start paying the monthly payments.
ceiling / number of occupants |
Zones A and B1 |
Zones B2 and C |
2 persons |
45 589 € |
32 914 € |
4 persons |
59 263 € |
42 187 € |
5 and more |
67 600 € |
46 291 € |
Once the financing plan has been finalized with the banker, the second stage of the rocket consists of exploring the market to find the coveted property. This is not an impossible mission as long as the prospecting is done with the help of the notary, and more particularly his real estate department.
Which process? As men and women in the field, notary's negotiators master all aspects of the transaction. As collaborators of the notaries, they have a privileged access to many sales related to separations, successions and marriages... which are accompanied by purchase or sale projects. Consequently, they have priority access to information concerning the arrival of new properties on the market. They can build up a file of almost exclusive offers and propose them to the study's clients. In addition, this service specialized in negotiation is surrounded by all the legal skills of the firm so that the negotiation is concluded in the best conditions.
The success of a purchase depends on the quality of the location. This is a key condition for the property to appreciate in value over time and to be easily resold. In fact, the real estate process leads to keeping a property for an average of 8 to 10 years. This is a fact to be taken into account, as life projects and professional objectives lead many households to move after a few years.
Which criteria? The quality of the location remains a determining factor. This leads us to prioritize properties offering transportation, shops and schools nearby if it is a city apartment. For a house in the countryside, the main qualities are good motorway access or a high-speed train line. And of course, there are also the services and shops to avoid using the car too much. This is why cities such as Angers, Limoges and Reims are attracting new residents who are attracted by more affordable prices than in large cities such as Bordeaux or Lyon.
Faced with soaring real estate prices, many buyers can be confused! With increases in many geographical areas, purchasing power is shrinking.... According to the latest notary's report, projections at the end of January 2022 confirm the upward trend in the price of old houses. It should be around 9.6% for the province.
What price? In this context of real estate tension, it is important to look for properties that are displayed at the real market price. This leads straight to the real estate departments of notaries' offices. The latter work to evaluate houses, apartments, land ... before offering them on the market. To do this, they use a method known as "by comparison" and common to the entire profession, which consists of defining the value of a property in relation to other transactions carried out in the area for the same type of property, surface and condition...
If there is one area that requires many precautions, it is the drafting of the compromise.
What are the advantages? At this final stage of the real estate project, the notary proceeds to a complete description of the property that is the object of the transaction. He takes into account the results of the various real estate diagnoses that may or may not affect the proper use of the property. Finally, the notary takes care to promote the seller's duty to inform so that all the necessary transparency benefits this transaction in the interest of both parties.
All these elements are included in this preliminary contract which is extremely precise.
Christophe Raffaillac.
Dernière modification le 2022-03-02