Trésor-Info - Publications de la direction générale du Trésor - Property

The Consequences of Regulating Mortgage Lending Conditions

2025-04-08T00:00:00+02:00

An increase in household mortgage debt was the catalyst for the decision made by the macroprudential authority – the High Council for Financial Stability (HCSF) – to regulate mortgage lending conditions for households in France. In 2019, the HCSF published a recommendation for credit institutions to limit the debt service to income (DSTI) ratio – the share of income allocated to monthly mortgage repayments – and the maturity of the mortgages approved. This recommendation became legally binding in 2022.

The Primmo model was used to assess this regulation, taking into account the varying impact that government policies may have depending on actual observed interest rates. This assessment showed that the HCSF’s measure had enabled the average DSTI ratio to be reduced while increasing the average mortgage maturity. However, the effect on property prices is limited amid rising interest rates. The findings are in line with the studies presented in the HCSF’s 2024 Annual Report.

When using the variation in the average income of buyers in the model as a proxy of the exclusion of households, the analysis reveals that lower-income households are “excluded” from the credit market due to high interest rates, but that this is not compounded by the HCSF measure.

If the HCSF had not applied the measure, the average DSTI ratio would have risen while the average mortgage maturity would have decreased. However, this would not have had a major effect on transactions and property prices within one year, as short-term market momentum is primarily influenced by the interest rate environment.

The model can also be used to examine the effect of exogenous shocks – relating to interest rates, as well as construction and rent – on the property market’s momentum and the profile of borrowers.

Italy and its Demographic Challenge

2023-10-24T00:00:00+02:00

Italy is the third most populous country in the European Union. After reaching a peak of 60 million in 2014, Italy’s population fell to 59 million in 2022 and could drop to 47 million by 2070. In 2022, while Italy recorded fewer than 400,000 births – the lowest figure since the country’s unification in 1861 – it posted more than 700,000 deaths, the highest level since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Immigration can no longer offset this stark natural decrease.

Italy has a rapidly ageing population: life expectancy, which now stands at 83, has increased by three years since 2000. According to the World Bank classification, Italy has had a “very old population” since 2007, falling into this category three years after Japan and 11 years before France. Ahead by a few years, Italy’s declining population is a harbinger of the EU’s own depopulation by 2030 according to Eurostat projections.

A dwindling and ageing population is hampering GDP growth given changes in (i) the workforce and labour market participation and (ii) investment and productivity in an economy largely formed by family-owned VSEs and SMEs faced with the issue of their hand over.

This “longevity shock” puts pressure on public finances, since it increases the proportion dedicated to pensions, healthcare and long-term care expenditure in the budget. While the percentage of over-65s is growing, that of the workforce is shrinking, raising the risk to the sustainability of public debt which stood at 141.7% of GDP in 2022.

Measures – whose outcomes are as yet unclear – have been taken to mitigate the impact of unfavourable demographic changes: pronatalist policies, labour market reform and selective immigration. Changes to the pension system for 2024 have yet to be determined.