Real estate credit has found a stone in the shoe. Since the beginning of March, theOAT 10 years stretched beyond 3.8%, forcing banks to raise their rate scales 0.10 to 0.30 points. At the same time, the Banque de France published the new usury rates for the second quarter of 2026: 4.00% over less than 10 years, 4.48% over 10 to 20 years, 5.19% over 20 years and over. The movement is happening at the wrong time and the thresholds are falling over short periods while financing costs are rising.
“Today, we are at a blockage of around 15% of files ” alert Laura Martino, director of banking partnerships at CAFPI. The mechanics are due to a structural time shift. The usury rate is calculated on the APRs of the previous quarter and applies at the time of disbursementwhich occurs three to four months after signing the commercial proposal. “ The usury rate can be up to 6 months behind the actual rates. » Three profiles pay the price for this latency.
Three profiles in the red zone
The first profile presented concerns borrowers with terms of less than 20 years. It is over these durations that the scissors effect hits the hardest. “ The usury rate for loans less than 20 years old has lost 11 basis points », Specifies Laura Martino, while the banking scales rise in parallel. “ We are at more than half of the files which are blocked on these maturities. » To get around the subject, she advises extending the term to 20 or 25 years, even if the client then pays more interest in total. The rectification rarely remains neutral for the budget.
The second profile concerned is borrowers aged 50-55 and over. The usury rate includes the cost of borrower insurance (TAEA), which increases mechanically with age. “ As soon as we exceed 50-55 years, basically, we often block the rate of wear », notes the CAFPI director. It also draws a concrete case taken from simulations carried out by CAFPI. A 50 year old man with yet 30% contribution and 100,000 euros of annual income gets a nominal rate of 3.25%, but the insurance pushes the APR up to 4.74% — above the 10-20 year cap of 4.48%. Good file, but mechanical refusal.
The third profile is small files, in particular first-time buyers benefiting from subsidized loans (PTZboosted loans). “ The lower the amount on the credit, the more the fixed costs will weigh as a percentage. », explains Laura Martino. Bank and guarantee fees, expressed as a percentage of the amount borrowed, derail the APR. The typical case is a loan request for 100,000 euros over 20 years with a nominal rate of 3.80% results in a APR of 5.22% — or three hundredths of a point above the threshold of 5.19%. The file turns orange, sometimes red.
How to get around the wall?
To get around the subject, the first lever is borrower insurance delegation. Replacing the bank’s group contract with an individual contract allows you to gain 0.15 to 0.25 APR pointsaccording to specialized brokers. This is often the quickest lever to bring a file back below the threshold, particularly for borrowers over 50 years old. The second lever consists of extend the duration of the loan beyond 20 years, to switch to the higher ceiling of 5.19%. The risk is assumed, the client pays more interest over time, and sometimes finishes repaying his credit in retirement.
The third lever encourages encourage competition between banks. Differences in scales between establishments can reach several tenths of a point for the same profile. A broker pools access to several dozen banking partners and identifies those who remain open on this or that criterion (age, duration, first-time purchase). CAFPI claims a completion rate greater than 90% on current files, a sign that solutions exist, provided you know the market map.
There remains a fundamental debate, namely the rigidity of the calculation method. CAFPI calls for a more reactive system, without calling into question the protective principle. “ From the moment a means of protection cuts off access to credit for people who are financeable, this is where we can question », Summarizes Laura Martino. The monthly calculation, tested in 2023, made it possible to streamline the market; it was not renewed. If the 10-year OAT remains above 3.7%, the issue will increase between now and July 1, the usury rate review date, and continue into the 3rd quarter.
