According to figures from the Banque de France, the number of mortgages fell by 44% in one year. If potential buyers are the first to suffer, followed by real estate agents, bank loan brokers are not far behind.
To the point, underlines Stéphane Solesme, Var correspondent of the Union of Credit Intermediaries (UIC), that in 2023, 16% of them have not renewed their approval with the Organization for the single register of intermediaries in insurance, banking and finance (Orias). Locally, the UIC representative claims to have even recorded three lowering of the curtain since January.
“Difficulties began to appear as early as January 2022, rembobine-t-il. In particular with the constraints put in place by the High Council for Financial Stability. “The war in Ukraine followed, rising inflation, the issue of attrition rates and, above all, “since last spring, the banks that have stopped granting loans”.
Necessary adaptation
Maël Bernier, spokesperson for the national brand Best rate, tempers: “If the decline in the number of credit is 40%, the volume of transactions does not decrease so much, because of those who buy cash.” However, those who turn to brokers – “For their first or second purchases, aged 25 to 55 on average” – are more and more likely to be refused credit. “Between 10 and 20%”counts Stéphane Solesme among his files, while Maël Bernier recognizes “a drop in our turnover”.
“Clearly, resumed the representative of the Union of credit intermediaries, the business is affected: before, our job was to find the best offer, now it’s regarding finding a financing solution.” But Stéphane Solesme sees it as an opportunity to promote his profession: “ The broker is becoming more and more expert and clients need this expertise, especially from banking partners.”
“It shouldn’t last too long all the same”, still asserts the spokesperson for Best rate. At the risk, she assures us, of leading to “a totally blocked market”.
