Want to definitely put your suitcases at Havenport and industrial city that has become trendy? Or, at the other end of France, in the beautiful sunny city of Nîmes ? In one case as in the other, if you project a real estate purchase, you have everything good: with Saint-EtienneLe Havre and Nîmes are among the three cities, out of the 20 studied by the Bestaux broker, in which you can acquire today at least 10 additional square meterscompared to last year. This, on the basis of a reimbursement monthly payment of 1,000 euros, for a credit contracted over 20 years at the rate of 3.22% and a contribution covering notary fees and agency fees. This increase in property purchasing power is to be placed on the decrease in prices for old housing and credit rates, in the last 12 months.
In the 20 cities analyzed by Bestaux, You earn an average of 3 square metersS compared to the end of 2024, which allows you to buy today around sixty square meters, always on average. But you can offer yourself more than double in Saint-Etienne, namely 144 meters, or 17 square meters more in just a year! In Le Havre, you have won an additional 14 square meters, which allows you to eye a surface of 92 square meters. In Nîmes, you will have to be satisfied with 82 square meters, which still represents 10 square meters more than a year ago, the equivalent of an additional room.
A real estate purchasing power still falling over 5 years
It must be said that Le Havre, Nîmes and Saint-Etienne are among the Five cheapest citiesout of the 20 studied, with an average price per square meter of 1,932 euros, 2,150 euros and 1,266 euros, respectively. In Paris, the most expensive city with its 9,751 euros per square meter, you can only acquire 18 square meters for 1,000 euros in credit to be reimbursed per month. Worse, this small surface represents a loss of one square meter compared to last year, the prices already going up in the capital.
But, even in Saint-Etienne, Le Havre or Nice, buyers are far from finding the purchasing power of five years ago, when credit rates did not exceed 1%, before quadruple in 2022 and 2023 to peak more than 4%. In 2020, you could buy 9 square meters more than today in Saint-Etienne, 8 additional square meters in Le Havre and … 20 more square meters, in Nîmes, the equivalent of a studio! Nîmes is not an isolated case, buyers who have lost 25 square meters of purchasing power in Le Mans, Angers or Toulon, against an average loss of 12 square meters at the national level between 2020 and 2025.
