The difficulty of buyers in obtaining a mortgage from their bank is now clearly seen in the figures of the Banque de France. According to the institution, the production of new housing loans fell to 14.6 billion euros in February, against 18.5 billion five months earlier, in October 2022. So much so that Bercy is worried henceforth of a difficulty of access to the property, by the loan.
The Ministry of Finance therefore intends to ensure that the current standards, put in place when the real estate market was overheating, and which aimed to protect the borrower against over-indebtedness, “do not become an obstacle to access to credit”indicates Bercy, confirming information from Echos Tuesday, April 4.
Since 1is January 2022, French banks must indeed comply with the binding standards defined by the High Council for Financial Stability (HCSF) which limit the duration of housing loans to twenty-five years (with a tolerance of two years of more in some cases) and the weight of the repayment (the borrowing costs in relation to the borrower’s income must not exceed 35%).
However, establishments have the possibility of derogating from these criteria, for 20% of loans, provided that these derogations essentially concern the acquisition of a main residence and aim in a third of cases to support first-time buyers. “It is these last two constraints that get stuck”says a bank executive. “In the context of current interest rates, these criteria give too much room to first-time buyers, who often do not have enough savings to obtain a loan, and not enough room for rental investors”believes Maël Bernier, spokesperson for the broker Meilleurtaux.
The rise in rates in question
Also, at the request of Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, “assessment work is being carried out in conjunction with the Banque de France, the HCSF and all the players concerned”, said Bercy, the day after a meeting with the French Banking Federation. Changes could be announced in June, at the next meeting of the HCSF.
At Bercy, however, we note that “The decrease in the distribution of credit is explained above all by the rise in interest rates”. Banks refinance themselves today at high rates on the markets and do not always manage to preserve their margin, by applying a sufficiently high credit rate to their customers, protected by still low usury rates. “This is what happens when you take a bond shock of 300 basis points in less than a year”summarizes a banker.
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