Rising rates, usury threshold: the French are finding it increasingly difficult to borrow for a property purchase

Clouds are gathering over home credit. The conflict in the Persian Gulf, which is causing pump prices to soar and interest rates to rise, as well as the social crisis that France is going through are beginning to weigh on the real estate market.

“We are sending fewer files to banks,” confirms Ludovic Huzieux, co-founder of Artémis Courtage, who has noticed a turning point since September. In general, you have to leave the first days of the school year to restart the activity. This year, it hasn’t really picked up,” continues the broker.

The cause: a particularly rapid increase in the cost of borrowing. A borrower must pay nearly 3.7% on average for a 20-year loan, and 3.8% for a 25-year loan. This is 0.50 points more than in June. In November, bank rates even skyrocketed. “Some banks are now showing 4.50% over 20 years,” confirms Sandrine Allonier, spokesperson for the broker Vousfinancer. This increase is due…