Our review of the 2024 results for French property developers and property companies is now available.

This publication offers a comprehensive view of the current state of the French property and real estate development markets, highlighting key performance indicators, structural challenges, and broader market dynamics in what remains a difficult environment. The sector continues to grapple with low demand and persistently high interest rates, albeit easing slightly in recent months.

Encouragingly, several positive indicators emerged in the second half of the year, signalling early signs of a potential recovery. These include a modest rise in mortgage lending, a rebound in property reservations towards year-end, improved profit margins among developers, and good performance for listed French property companies, who have maintained their position as the third largest in Europe, behind the UK and Germany.

The year 2024 ultimately served as a reflection of the sector’s enduring challenges, areas of opportunity, and the strategic shifts undertaken by industry players in response to changing market conditions.

Some key takeaways:

• The Construction Cost Index (CCI) decreased by 2.5% year-on-year at the end of December 2024, mainly driven by lower energy price.
• Home loan production rebounded in Q4 2024, partly driven by government measures expanding access to interest-free loans, marking a stronger recovery compared with late 2023.
• Monthly home loan production stands at €11.6 billion at the end of December 2024. The lowest level since 2015 was reached in February 2024, at €6.8 billion.
• Year-on-year, construction site openings stood at 263,100 housing units in December 2024, down 11% compared with December 2023.
• In 2024, French developers benefitted from the positive impact of the strategies implemented over the last two years, including lower pricing policies and a strong commercial focus on institutional investors.
• The year 2024 marks the recovery of real estate investments in France with growth of +6%.
• The commercial market, after accelerating in 2022 and 2023 to more than 20% of the investment market, decreased to 16% in 2024.