A broker facing the real estate crisis: “Turnover has been halved”
“It’s been complicated for a year and a half, I didn’t think it would last this long but we have to keep our heads together. » Morgane Riou, an independent broker based in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire (Loire-Atlantique) after having worked for almost four years as an agent, wants to be lucid but combative facing the real estate crisis. However, its activity as a credit intermediary slowed down considerably as rates rose from 1% to nearly 4.5% for loans of 20 years or more, greatly reducing the purchasing power of the French. .
“The files that we send to the bank are successful, but it is because we do a lot of sorting upstream,” explains the one who joined forces in October 2022 with the owner of several real estate agencies to set up Emprunte Courtage, find premises and hire another broker and an assistant. “Two years ago, on my own, I was doing around ten files per month,” she explains. Whereas today, between two of us, we do five or six. Compared to 2021, turnover was halved. »
The cause is a supply problem with high rates and banks reluctant to lend, particularly to less good profiles. But also a demand problem, with potential buyers who are putting their project on hold, no longer having the means to make their real estate dream come true.
But Morgane Riou wants to believe in the beginning of a trend reversal with the starting point, mortgage rates that reach a ceiling. “The customers come back, the state of mind changes a little,” she notes. Real estate agents are still struggling to bring down prices but It’s a journey for sellers to take. »
Whatever happens, she has seen her job as a broker evolve in recent months. “When I started four and a half years ago, I found it simple compared to my previous position in the bank,” explains Morgane Riou. I was working fewer hours and making a good living. There, we have to fight, prospect, prepare the files even better. We return to our core business. »
Work even more to earn less and, above all, save your company. Because the broker is convinced: after the crisis, good years are to come.
