the west, nothing is new. With an average of 5,000 euros per m² (according to DVF Etalabreal estate database), the city center of La Rochelle remains a special place where opportunities are rare. For Johanna Vandaneigen, agency director for Human Immobilier, this can be explained by the current crisis conditions: “For the past year, it has been more difficult to borrow. With rates at 4%, banks no longer lend as easily, which penalizes some of our customers. » First-time buyers wishing…
In the west, nothing is new. With an average of 5,000 euros per m² (according to DVF Etalabreal estate database), the city center of La Rochelle remains a special place where opportunities are rare. For Johanna Vandaneigen, agency director for Human Immobilier, this can be explained by the current crisis conditions: “For the past year, it has been more difficult to borrow. With rates at 4%, banks no longer lend as easily, which penalizes some of our customers. » First-time buyers wishing to find a property close to the Old Port, for example, have no other choice but to stay at the quayside.
Another reason for the real estate slowdown affecting the La Rochelle sector is based on the tendency of owners to display prices above the market, despite the context. Consequence: the goods languish in agency catalogs without finding a buyer. The problem is also sometimes due to the difficulties that some buyers encounter in selling before buying. Johanna Vandaneigen explains: “The drop in property prices in France is obviously having an impact on sales in the department. When clients from the Paris region come forward wanting to buy, we know that it will often depend on the sale of their current home. And, usually, it takes time. »
Slight increase in buyers
In the inner suburbs of La Rochelle, prices remain strong. On average, the price per m² for the municipalities bordering the city-prefecture amounts to 4,000 euros. To become the owner of a house of just under 100 m² in the Nieul-sur-Mer area, you will have to pay the sum of 332,000 euros, or 3,952 euros/m² (SeLoger). The only houses available for less than 300,000 euros require the vast majority of work. Which ultimately turns out to be just as costly. “There is no such thing as a good deal. But if, in the La Rochelle suburbs, you have a 100 m² for 400,000 euros, in the lands of Aunis, you will find what you are looking for for 200,000 euros near Aigrefeuille-d’Aunis. It makes you think,” explains a real estate agent in the area.
In the rest of Aunis, the market is picking up slowly but surely. After a final quarter of 2023 battered by inflation and rising rates, the start of 2024 shows more momentum. According to Benjamin Viau, agent at ERA Pays Rochelais, the number of buyers has been gradually increasing since February, and this should continue. He notes that prices in the Aunis sector, depending on the area, are increasing: “Four years ago, a house in Ferrières could cost 200,000 euros, now, certain similar properties go for 400,000 euros. » The symbol of a generalized increase in real estate throughout the department? In Marans, the question will undoubtedly arise. Currently, a house of less than 100 m² is worth, on average, 170,000 euros. But the diversion project, on which work is expected to begin in early 2026, could push prices up.
The Île de Ré remains an exclusive territory
The Ile de Ré, known for being an exceptional market, continues to live its life, with prices unlike those observed on the continent. “Our customers remain the same. These are investors who wish to rent and enjoy the living environment, Parisian retirees who respond to the call of the coast, and sometimes first-time buyers with wealthy means,” explains Jordy Ouhayoun, agency director for Foncia île de Ré. . The differences can be significant between the north (excluding Les Portes-en-Ré) and the south of the island: “A property of 21 m² was sold for more than 8,000 euros per m² (i.e. around 170,000 euros) in Saint-Martin. In Saint-Clément les Baleines, for a similar property, it is less than 7,000 euros per m². »
With the slowdown in the real estate market in the La Rochelle and Aunis sectors, the shortfall could prove significant for the La Rochelle town hall. But Thibaut Guiraud, finance assistant, explains: “We have felt a drop in transfer taxes (taxes recovered by local authorities and the State during a property sale, Editor’s note) since 2022 and to the tune of just 15.6%. for the year 2023. The fall is expected to become more pronounced in 2024. Obviously, this impacts our finances, but it is only a tiny part of the city’s budget. »