Rental: the cities where rents have soared the most over the past year

Rents have increased in all of the 50 largest French cities over the last twelve months. In certain municipalities, the outbreak is spectacular.

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The situation remains critical for tenants. Due to an insufficient supply of rental properties in large cities and a demand which has exploded by +45% since October 2021, rents continue to increase throughout the country. According to the real estate portal SeLoger, the level of rents continues to increase nationally at a sustained pace over the last twelve months (+4% over one year in October 2024). An increase which now largely exceeds inflation, estimated by INSEE at +1.1% over one year in September 2024. This increase in rents over the last twelve months confirms a trend similar to that of previous years (+3. 6% in October 2023 over one year). “For two years, households’ difficulties in accessing property have aggravated rental tension, as they stay longer in their homes, explains Alexandra Verlhiac, economist at SeLoger. The turnover rate is therefore lower in the rental stock, which contributes to creating an imbalance between supply and demand. This phenomenon tends to drive up rents.

In detail, rents increased by 4.3% in one year in the 50 largest cities in the country in October 2024. Obviously, the situation is heterogeneous and some cities are showing spectacular rent increases. This is for example the case in Antibes, Nice and Marseille, where rents have increased by +10.1%, +7.8% and +7% respectively over the last twelve months. Conversely, Clermont-Ferrand (+0.7%), Béziers (+1.1%) and Grenoble (+1.4%) recorded the lowest increases. Over the last twelve months, none of the 50 largest French cities have seen their rents fall. On average, you now need to pay 978 euros in rent in October 2024 to rent a 60 square meter apartment in France, an increase of 36 euros over the last twelve months.

728 euros for a studio in Paris

Regarding Paris, the most expensive city in France for housing, rents increased by +3.7% over one year in October 2024. An increase which can be explained by the collapse in rental supply since three years in the capital (-54.8% since October 2021), which is causing a shortage of rental properties. Demand therefore becomes much higher than supply, which has the effect of pushing up rents. The average rent for a 50 square meter apartment thus reaches 1,590 euros in October 2024 in Paris, an increase of 55 euros over one year. For a 20 square meter studio, count on 728 euros per month on average, which is 21 euros more than a year ago.

The only glimmer of hope for tenants is that the transaction market is finally recovering with the drop in interest rates since the start of the year. The latter now reach 3.4% on average for loans spread over 20 years according to the broker VousFinancer, a drop of almost one point since the start of the year. Consequently, first-time buyers should have easier access to property, which will facilitate the turnover of housing in the rental stock. As proof, the number of tenants looking for an apartment has already fallen by -9.4% since October 2023.