Real estate / Purchase. Fewer and fewer bank loans granted

After a rapid increase in July (+0.18%), the increase in the average mortgage rate was slowed in August, then in September by slightly increased attrition for the 3.^e quarter 2022.

Then with the significant re-evaluation of the wear rate that occurred for the 4^e quarter, the increase in the average credit interest rate in October (+0.19%) was comparable to that in July, Observatory Credit Housing / CSA shows. It continued at a sustained pace in November with +0.16%, i.e. an average credit interest rate that exceeded 2%.

Credit rates are still rising

The average credit interest rate (excluding insurance) increased from 2.09% in October 2022 to 2.25% in November 2022, an increase of +0.16% according to Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA. In November 2021, this average rate was 1.06%.

The reasons: inflation and the 0.75% increase in the European Central Bank’s (ECB) main refinancing rate, bringing it to 2% in early November.

Longer credits

In November 2022, the average duration of loans was 248 months against 244 in October 2022, i.e. ” a level never seen before,’ notes Crédit Logement/CSA Observatory.

In total, 67.2% of bank loans for home ownership were granted for periods between more than 20 and 25 years, while the relative weight of this duration frame in 2021 was 55.5%.

“However, this extension is no longer sufficient to offset the impact of rising house prices or the increase in required down payment rates, and its effectiveness erodes as the contribution rate increases. credit,” he says.

Fewer and fewer bank loans granted

From July, the production of loans fell due to the level of usurious rates, which led to several rejections of loans. In October, for example, almost 30% of loan applications through the broker Meilleurtaux were rejected by the banks because the borrowers’ debt ratio exceeded 39%.

“The revaluation of the wear rate that took place on 1^eh October certainly allowed an increase in mortgage rates, observes Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA, but the new phase of raising ECB rates weighed on banks’ margins. The supply of credit could therefore not be restored, as is often seen in the autumn. »

In fact, the fall in loan production continued in November with a 37.3% drop in bank loans made in the rolling quarter from September to November 2022 compared to the same period last year.