The second home market has been falling since the first four months of 2022. Several factors may explain this situation, starting with the tightening of access to credit or the lack of sufficient supply.
The rate of purchase of secondary houses is losing momentum. In any case, this is the observation made by the broker Pretto after two remarkable years, reports The Parisian. While spring is the best time to buy a second home, the broker points to a lull and a dropout this month compared to May 2021, underlines its president Pierre Chapon.
Requests are still up compared to 2019, showing +17%. But from January to April 2022, the broker notes a decline in second home financing requests of 7%, compared to a year earlier. Two years after the health crisis, in an uncertain economic climate, the trend is caution, summarizes the professional.
Banks grant less credit
According to Pierre Chapon, four reasons can explain this situation. On the one hand, access to credit has been restricted since the beginning of the year for certain profiles. Banks take particular account of a debt cap 35% of income over a period of up to 25 years. Banks can present 20% of the file without taking this rule into account, but it favors the files of first-time buyers or buyers of principal residence, specifies the professional.
Borrowers also face an increase in their personal contribution. In 2022, according to Pretto, we must plan to bring 54700 euros on average for the purchase of a second home, for an average budget up from 15,000 euros to 240,000 euros (instead of 225,000 in 2021). It is 2000 euros more than in 2021.
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An offer that is running out of steam
Furthermore, the French have less desire to own a second home since it is possible to travel again, notes the broker. In 2018, the second home real estate market represented 3.5 million properties listed by INSEE in 2018, or 10% of the total. It is still a confidential market.
also note that the offer is running out of steam. In 2019, we had more than 15,000 homes for sale, while today we have 5,000, we are running out of stock, says Trevor Leggett, the founder of the Leggett agency.