Property prices published on the Athome property listings website stabilised at the end of 2024, marking a relatively stable year for sales prices per square metre for existing flats (-0.5% between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the fourth quarter of 2024) and new homes (-0.3% between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the fourth quarter of 2024, but it should be noted that the volume of sales was low), but with a more significant fall of -2.6% for existing homes. The average price per square metre in sales advertisements in the fourth quarter of 2024, nationwide, was therefore €5,707 for existing houses, €7,783 for existing flats and €9,696 for new flats.

Regional variations

However, there are regional disparities. The West region has seen the sharpest falls over a year for all property types combined, with prices down by 6.4% for existing houses, 4.9% for existing flats and 6.3% for new flats.

In the North region, prices of existing flats rose by 4.5%, while they fell by 3.7% in the East and South. The Centre region was fairly stable for existing properties (+1.2% for houses and +1.1% for flats), but the price of new flats has fallen by -5.8%.

And rental property?

As far as rental prices are concerned, asking rents for flats have risen in the space of a year (+3% over the year), with a national average in Q4 2024 of €1,824 per month. Rents for houses rose by just 1.8% year-on-year. However, the last quarter saw a slight fall of -1.9% compared with the previous quarter for flat rents and -3.7% for house rents. These recent developments could indicate a trend towards price stabilisation in the rental market.

Julien Licheron, economist at Liser for L'Observatoire de l'Habitat, stated: "The trends highlighted by atHome on the basis of advertisements are consistent with the publications of L'Observatoire de l'Habitat based on notarised deeds, and allow us to conclude that 2024 has finally been more encouraging and positive for the residential property market than the previous year, which was particularly difficult. In 2024, activity on existing home markets gradually returned to levels close to those seen before the crisis. Only the new-build market remains in difficulty. Potential buyers, when comparing existing flats with off-plan purchases, need to factor in uncertainties about the final price and delivery date of buildings, which are weighing on activity.”

These figures should also be seen against a backdrop in which tax measures favourable to property transactions have been extended until June 2025, and interest rates have been cut several times over the last 12 months by the ECB and the Fed, bringing the deposit rate to 3.00% at present.

These data also give a positive signal for 2025, which should see the property market regain some of its vigour, with the market for existing properties relatively stable or slightly up, and the market for new flats gradually picking up in terms of the number of transactions, without seeing any significant change in prices in the short term. To take advantage of these favourable conditions, however, you need to act quickly. "Deeds must be finalised before 30 June 2025, which means that you need to commit to buying a new flat before around 30 April, since it takes an average of two months to obtain a bank loan and finalise the deed at the notary's office," explainrf , CEO of Hektar.

 Read the original French-language version of this news report /