Housing Financing in France and the Financial Crisis

Jérôme COFFINET * Responsable du service des études statistiques, Secrétariat général de l'Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution et Université Paris 1. Contact : jerome.coffinet@acpr.banque-france.fr.

Jérémi MONTORNÈS ** Economist-researcher, Microeconomic Analysis Department, Banque de France.Contact: jeremi.montornes@banque-france.fr.

This paper analyzes the main changes in the housing financing in France during the period 2003-2013. Relying mostly on the data made available at the Banque de France, it recalls the main features of housing financing in France: dynamic credit flows, historically low interest rates, geographic heterogeneity and diversity of banking resources. Thereafter, the paper examines the synchronization between the cycle of housing loans and the business cycle: the results suggest that in the long term, home loans precede the changes in economic growth, but that this link is slightly distended during the recent period. Finally, the analysis of recent developments based on indicators of borrowers’ profile does not indicate a risk to financial stability in France.