The momentum in the Paris real estate market continues to lose momentum. For the first quarter, the municipal chamber of notaries reported on Wednesday around 34,300 old apartments sold in the metropolitan region of Île-de-France, which has more than 12 million inhabitants, 22 percent less than in the same period last year.

Niklas Záboji

Business correspondent in Paris

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After a decline of 6 and 11 percent in the previous two quarters, the downward trend has accelerated sharply once again, although it should be noted that sales were at a record level at the beginning of 2022. "In most markets, the sales volume in the first quarter of 2023 was below the average of the past ten years," the notaries concluded. Household demand will be restrained by further tightening financial conditions. For example, interest rates on home loans continued to rise "at a high pace" in the first months of this year.

Notaries are also observing "numerous refusals of loans, even in the case of files that appear solid," as well as increased requirements for equity and residual income that borrowers have to live on. At the same time, the economic, social and international situation remains very difficult and weighs on household sentiment.

All this has consequences for prices: In the center of Paris, which has a population of around two million, the decline continued in the first quarter, according to the notaries, the minus was 2 percent compared to the same period last year. The average price per square metre has thus fallen to 10,310 euros. If the downward trend continues, the price would fall below the 10,000 euro threshold in the third quarter.