Rental Investment: One in Three French People Will Wait Until 2027 to Make a Decision
According to a survey published on August 27, 33% of French people acknowledge that the outcome of the presidential election could either speed up or delay their real estate plans. The fear of non-payment is just as much a factor as property prices—and takes precedence over tax considerations.
There’s no shortage of interest. Half of French people find rental property investment attractive—11% consider it very attractive—and 22% plan to buy a property to rent out in the coming year. Compared to competing investment options, rental property holds its own: 23% of those surveyed cite it as one of the most attractive investments, behind life insurance (35%) and regulated savings accounts (28%), and tied with the stock market (22%).
These results come from a survey conducted by Discurv on August 3 among a sample of 1,000 people representative of the French population aged 18 and older, on behalf of the Maslow.immo platform.
The rest of the study explains why this desire so rarely translates into action. A majority of 56% believes that real estate investment is not, or not really, within the reach of the middle class.
Most importantly, the ranking of obstacles has changed. The risk of non-payment or squatting tops the list, cited by 40% of respondents—on par with property prices (39%)—ahead of interest rates (34%), maintenance fees and property taxes (27%), and lack of a down payment (25%). Taxation, which has long ranked first in this type of survey, now falls behind security.
Tightening Budgets
The profile of the prospective investor has become more modest. 64% of those considering a rental property purchase plan to spend less than 150,000 euros, and only 6% expect to spend 250,000 euros or more. At these price points, in major metropolitan areas, the investment landscape is limited to small studios, properties in need of renovation, or mid-sized cities. These are also the segments where rental risk is concentrated.
The expectations expressed mirror these concerns exactly. Tied for first place are better protection against non-payment and squatting (23%) and lower prices (22%), followed by lower interest rates (17%). “Our survey shows what’s holding them back from investing: security and prices, even before taxes,” comments Pierre-Emmanuel Jus, deputy director of Maslow.immo. Furthermore, two out of three French people—68% to be exact—believe that private landlords play an essential (32%) or important (36%) role in providing housing for the population.
The election calendar is a factor in the calculation
The most noteworthy finding lies elsewhere. One-third of French people—33%—acknowledge that the outcome of the presidential election could influence their decision: 12% might move up their plans, while 21% might postpone them. For this group, confidence will depend first and foremost on the general economic situation (34%), followed by property taxes (26%), and then the political and social climate (21%).
The fact that one in ten French people are delaying a purchase is not a market forecast; it is an intention stated in August—eight months before the first round of the election—and such intentions often do not hold up in reality. It does, however, indicate that a portion of the solvent demand has factored the political calendar into its decision-making, just as it does interest rates. For a market that thrives on a resurgence in transactions, this is not insignificant.
The financing landscape, however, is no longer moving in the same direction as it did in 2025. The Crédit Logement/CSA Observatory reports an average rate of 3.30% (excluding insurance) in July—a slight increase from June—with an average term of 253 months. More than one in two loans is now granted for 25 years or more, compared with 46.8% in 2025: the increase in loan terms offsets the stabilization of interest rates. On a rolling annual basis, new loan volume is still up 0.5%, a far cry from the 31.1% recorded at the end of 2025.
In addition to these financing conditions, there is a cost that prospective investors now mention off the cuff: property tax, which 27% of them cite as a barrier. According to the General Directorate of Public Finance, a private homeowner paid an average of 1,117 euros in property tax in 2025, up 2.8% year-over-year. For a studio apartment renting for 550 euros a month, two months’ rent is thus gone even before condominium fees, insurance, and management costs are factored in. It is this simple math—more than the marginal tax rate on property income—that discourages those on tight budgets.
In terms of prices, the Notaires-INSEE index for existing homes, published in May, shows a 0.2% increase in the first quarter of 2026 and a 0.1% increase year-over-year, with apartment prices up 0.6% and house prices down 0.2%. The volume of transactions has remained steady at around 952,000 over the past twelve months. Neither a rebound nor a slump: a market that is biding its time, much like the investors it recently surveyed.
