Real estate: what additional surface can you buy in 50 cities, with the drop in rates?

With the drop in credit rates, households have seen their real estate purchasing power has been shaking for a year. Here is the area that a household can acquire on average in the 50 largest cities in France, with a monthly payment of 1,000 euros.

• 
  

  To safeguard
  

  
  
  

  Saved
  

The future clears up for buyers! Since the end of 2023, mortgage rates have decreased at a point to reach 3.4% on average in February for loans spread over 20 years according to the borrowed broker. This drop in credit ratecombined with the decline in the prices of in large cities for more than a year, benefits buyers who see their real estate purchasing power increase in metropolises. We are talking about the area here that a household can acquire with a reimbursement monthly payment of 1,000 euros, for a credit spread over 20 years at the rate of 3.4% and an contribution representing 10% of the price of the property.

“”On average, the French won 8 additional square meters of property purchasing power over one year in February 2025 with the drop in credit rates. This represents almost an additional room, it is considerable“Says Barbara Castillo Rico, head of European economic studies at Seloger. Inevitably, the gain in purchasing power differs according to the cities, since it depends on the prices of real estate in force in each municipality. We invite you to discover the number of square meters that a household can be offered in February 2025 in the 50 largest French cities.

11 square meters won in Saint-Etienne

Proof that the economic situation finally becomes conducive to buyers, the area that household can acquire is up in all the fifty largest French cities. The area gain is particularly spectacular in Saint-Etienne, where buyers have seen their real estate purchasing power flare 11 square meters since the beginning of 2024, which represents for example an additional room, for a monthly payment identical credit. Note that Saint-Etienne wins the palm of the city or a household can afford the largest number of square meters for 1,000 euros in monthly payment: 152! In Dunkirk, where the prices of an apartment are negotiated on average below the 2,000 euros mark, it is possible to afford a housing of 88 square meters with 1,000 euros in monthly payment, also, there, a gain of 11 square meters over a year.

Inevitably, the gain in real estate purchasing power is less important in metropolises, where the price per square meter is higher. Thus, a cleaning can acquire only 39 square meters in Lyon with 1,000 euros in monthly payment in February 2025, a gain of 2 square meters, the price of apartments reaching an average of 4,423 euros per square meter in this city. Unsurprisingly, it is in Paris that household real estate purchasing power is the lowest since it is possible to acquire a studio of only 18 square meters with a monthly payment of 1,000 euros, or a gain of 1 meter square compared to the first quarter of 2024.

While household real estate purchasing power has clearly increased in 2024, the trend could well reversed in 2025. Indeed, mortgage rates Stabilize in February for the first time in more than a year. Some banks have even started to raise their rate grids. In addition, real estate prices set off again increase in metropolises As in rural areas, a first for five years.