Buy old rather than new is not just a matter of taste for the parquet-moldings-fireplace triptych. It is also a question of means, the purchase of a new home being more expensive due to VAT at 20% and the cost of construction. During the year 2024 alone, the cost of building a new house in France jumped by 7.5% compared to 2023, to 200,000 euros on average (excluding land), recognizes the builder Hexaom.
“Building costs more than before but the financial analysis must be done over time”nuance its general director, Loïc Vandromme. For the manager, it is also necessary “take into account all future savings on energy consumption, which make new construction a lastingly advantageous option”. Verification with a simulation carried out by the broker Vousfinancer For Capital. Let’s take the example of a house of 100 square meters, sold for 300,000 euros. If you buy it in the old one, you will have to pay notary fees representing around 8% of the purchase price, or 25,500 euros here (see infographic). In new buildings, notary fees being around 3%, it will cost you only 9,000 euros.
Special financing for new construction
The construction of a house also entitles you to specific financing. Starting with the zero-interest loan (PTZ) from the State, reserved for first-time buyers whose income does not exceed certain ceilings and who are purchasing a new house or apartment. In the Vousfinancer simulation, buyers of the new house at 300,000 euros are entitled to a PTZ of 90,000 euros, over 25 years, which they will only begin to repay in 10 years. The PTZ is in fact characterized by a repayment deferral, which can go up to 15 years. The buyers being employees and buying new properties, they also benefit from the accession loan from Action Logement, the former 1% employer, at the rate of 1%, for an amount of 30,000 euros (the maximum possible), over 25 years.
Finally, the new house being built according to the criteria of the environmental regulations RE 2020, the most recent, its energy performance diagnosis (DPE) displays the best possible grade, A. Which allows its buyers to obtain a subsidized loan of 20,000 euros at 0% over 25 years. To complete their financing plan, all they have to do is take out a classic loan of 160,000 euros, over 25 years, at the current rate of 3.50%. By putting all of these loans end to end, Vousfinancer estimates the total financing cost at 37,900 euros over 10 years.
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Financing 50,000 euros more expensive in the old one
If buyers buy an old house, with a DPE rated D in the broker’s simulation, they benefit neither from the PTZ, nor from the Housing Action loan, nor from the subsidized loan granted for good energy performance. They must therefore take out a traditional loan for the entire purchase price, i.e. 300,000 euros, at 3.50% over 25 years. Hence a financing cost estimated at 89,000 euros over 10 years by Vousfinancer, i.e. 50,000 euros more only for buying new!
Once you have purchased your home, you will need to maintain it. Which should logically require less effort from you in the new than in the old. For the new house of 100 square meters, “we count the maintenance of the heat pumpwhich is around 300 euros per year, as well as a lick of paint after seven years.explains to Capital Sandrine Allonier, spokesperson for Vousfinancer, who estimates the total maintenance cost at around 7,000 euros over 10 years.
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A very reduced energy bill in new buildings
On the other hand, it is a safe bet that in 10 years, an old house of 100 square meters in DPE D will require redoing all the paintings, changing the windows and toaster-style electric radiators, renovating the bathroom, repairing the roof, or even renovating the facade, lists Sandrine Allonier, predicting a total bill of… 30,000 euros over 10 years.
Another important source of savings between new and old, the energy consumption. Built on the basis of RE 2020, with good insulation, good sealing and a heating system using renewable energies, such as a heat pump, a new house necessarily consumes much less energy than an old house. Vousfinancer thus calculates the electricity consumption of the new house at DPE A at 3,157 kWh per year, i.e. an annual bill of 616 euros, based on the regulated EDF tariff in September for the BASE option, excluding subscription, i.e. 0.1952 euro/kWh. For the old house with DPE D, you need to count on 1,625 euros per year, based on a consumption of 8,329 kWh, or 1,000 euros more!
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A gap of 100,000 euros between new and old
Energy bill, maintenance costs, financing costs, notary fees… Vousfinancer estimates the total cost of the new house at 361,140 euros over 10 years, compared to 463,610 euros for the old house. Either a saving of 100,000 euros. So no longer regret having given up on your dream of a 19th century millstone in front of your partner who praised the charms of the new, he was right!
And it’s not over: if you decide one day to resell your new house to buy a larger one, you will get much more than with the fantasized millstone, the price differences between a DPE A and a DPE D being up to 18%, according to French notaries.
