The real estate and construction market in France

According to the SDES (French housing statistics service), published by Insee, 315,000 dwellings were started in France excluding Mayotte between October 2025 and September 2026, against 258,600 a year earlier, a rise of about 22% (calculated from Insee). Over 2025, housing construction in France had reached 268,400 starts for 378,400 authorised dwellings. The FFB nevertheless notes that building permits are down by almost 10% over the three months to end-July 2026.

The Notaires-Insee index of existing dwelling prices in mainland France stands at 125.7 in the second quarter of 2026 (base 100 in 2015), against 126.8 a year earlier, a fall of about 0.9% (calculated from Insee). The French property market is stabilising without rebounding: according to Le Nouvel Obs in September 2026, selling times are lengthening, stocks are rising and the average rate on new mortgages is climbing back to about 3.3%.

Renovation has become the main outlet for building in France: €117bn of improvement and maintenance in 2025, including €31bn for energy renovation, according to the Fédération française du bâtiment. The slowdown is nonetheless hitting it in 2026: in the second quarter, maintenance and improvement volume is down 3.3% year on year and energy renovation by 4.3%. The FFB expects about 12,000 building company failures and the loss of 20,000 jobs over the whole of 2026.

Building in France comprises 450,000 companies and 1.73 million workers, including 1.23 million employees, according to the Fédération française du bâtiment. In property development, Bouygues Immobilier filed more than 10,000 building permit applications in 2025 and obtained 9,000, according to Le Moniteur in June 2026. The developer Pierreval aims for turnover of about €400m in 2026 and took over Carrère in 2025, according to Le Moniteur in October 2026.

After the end of the Pinel scheme (the French tax incentive for rental investment), sales of new dwellings to private investors fell to 9,469 in France in 2025, according to the Fédération des promoteurs immobiliers (FPI, the French property developers’ federation) cited by Challenges in September 2026. The new private landlord status, known as “Jeanbrun”, is meant to revive rental investment, alongside the zero-interest loan (prêt à taux zéro) for first-time buyers. According to Le Moniteur, Bouygues Immobilier’s sales were up 36% in volume year on year at end-April 2026.

A PDF report in French, 2026 edition, organised in six chapters: the scope of real estate and construction, market size and momentum, demand for housing and premises, supply and players, regulation and constraints, and long-term outlook.

Statistics from Insee and the SDES (French housing statistics service), figures from the Fédération française du bâtiment and the Fédération des promoteurs immobiliers, and trade press articles from the IndexPresse database. Every figure comes with its source and period.

Yes. The study is updated before it is sent, within 48 hours at most: it includes the latest published data, and every figure comes with its source and period.

Building companies, developers and builders, estate agents and property managers, materials manufacturers, local authorities, as well as consultants, bankers and investors who need to understand the real estate and construction market in France.

By email, as a PDF, within 48 hours of payment. Our analysts use that time to add the latest available data before sending. You then find it in your My studies area.

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