The figures for new real estate are “catastrophic”, the president of the Federation of Real Estate Developers (FPI), Pascal Boulanger, warned on Thursday, and some developers are starting to cut jobs.
We are losing employees and we are losing know-how, Mr. Boulanger was alarmed at a press conference. I hear about the start of PSE (job protection plans, Editor’s note), he warned, adding that no one replaces retirements anymore.
There is a loss of know-how, and that has become very worrying, I see a lot of operations managers, operations fitters changing jobs, added Pascal Boulanger. He did not name any promoters concerned, nor give figures for jobs lost, but recalled that according to estimates from employers’ organizations, 300,000 jobs were at risk by 2025 – half in the construction trades, half in related trades (developers, architects, insurers, etc.).
90,000 reservations only
The year 2023 should mark a drop of around 50% in reservations and sales of new homes, feared Pascal Boulanger. Sales of new homes fell by 48.6% in the third quarter, according to the FPI observatory, and individual reservations of 46.6%. This is the worst quarter since the creation of the observatory, deplored the general delegate of the FPI, Didier Bellier-Ganire.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Ecological Transition, sales fell by 34.9% and reservations by individuals by 39.7%. If the current trend continues, the number of reservations in 2023 should be around 90,000, compared to around 160,000 for a normal yearwarned Didier Bellier-Ganire.
The operation buyout programs encouraged by the State via the Caisse des Dépôts and Action Logement are not enough to compensate for the decline in private reservations, and are also putting developers in difficulty, affirmed Pascal Boulanger, because these block sales, we make them zero margins, or even, for most of them, negative margins.
The average price of a new apartment put up for sale remains around 5,000 euros per square meter, but this figure is less significant than before because developers now accept negotiations to sell off their stock, explained Pascal Boulanger.