Record number of sales in Monaco in 2022
And the amount of sales exceeds one billion euros for the first time.
Monegasque real estate activity is experiencing a double record. According to the 2022 Real Estate Observatory published by IMSEE a few days ago, the number of real estate sales in the Principality broke a record last year, with 88 transactions, compared to 23 in 2021.
In 2019, the last reference year before the health crisis, there were 33 sales over the year. The number has almost tripled. An evolution that Laurent Locchi, Deputy Director of the real estate agency Miells & Partners – Christie’s Monaco, explains in these terms:
” New programs have always worked in Monaco: there is a strong demand for new buildings, what are the budgets or the types of apartment. (…) Or, we will soon have deliveries of new homes. For example, the Mareterra project was initially very conceptual, whereas today, we project ourselves very, very easily. I think it increases the pace of transactions. »
For Olivier Pradeau, Managing Director of Monaco Properties, “ the attraction of Monaco for international investors must be taken into account. Real estate prices in Monaco are quite high, but if you look in dollars, prices have fallen by 20 to 25% due to the weakness of the euro over the year 2022. For an international investor, based in United Kingdom or Dubai, Monaco’s real estate market, which is a safe haven in times of high inflation, is becoming much more attractive due to the weakness of the euro. »
Another notable record: for the first time, the amount of sales exceeded one billion euros. According to Olivier Pradeau, the reason lies in particular in interest rates. ” Wealthy people are very well advised: they know very well that interest rates are rising, continuing to rise and will stabilize at high levels. 2022 was the last time to buy at reasonable interest rateshe specifies. Especially since in France and Monaco, you can go into debt at fixed rates, whereas‘in the United States or the United Kingdom, one can go into debt at variable rates. »
For Laurent Locchi, this record is above all linked to a new demand, more family-oriented than a few years ago: ” on the one hand, these are new homes, the price per square meter of which is higher than that of resales. But there are above all a lot of large units in new programs, with a large volume of apartments with four and five rooms or more. It is mainly families who come to settle permanently in Monaco or take up residence. The size of the apartments plays a big role in the total amount. »
Average price per square meter: Larvotto takes the lead
If in 2021, Monte-Carlo rose to first place among the districts where the average price per square meter is the highest for resale, in 2022, this place goes to Larvotto, going from 59,000 to 62,000 euros in space of a year.
Laurent Locchi prefers to remain cautious on this data, but he analyzes this dynamic all the same: “ in Monaco, that means nothing: each apartment has its own value. You have to be careful with this statistical data per square meter, it’s very artificial. But what must have come into play in the meantime is that the Larvotto has been completely renovated. Customers have certainly been able to project themselves a little more easily. Before, it was an immobilized zone, so investors probably had more visibility afterwards. »
Words corroborated by Olivier Pradeau: “ the Larvotto has very few residences in the private sector. The averages are therefore based on a very small number of transactions. It is enough for a very nice apartment to be sold in 2022 to make the average vary enormously. But the Larvotto remains a very attractive district, in full revival with the extension at sea. When we see that on Mareterra, transactions are around 100,000 euros per square meter, we can say to ourselves that all the residences around will benefit from this new impetus. »
The year 2022 therefore seems to have been quite successful for the real estate market. ” Despite a tense geopolitical context due to the war in Ukraine, the catastrophic consequences of Brexit on the UK economy and tensions in the Middle East, Turkey and Lebanon, Monaco remains a safe haven holding international investors for the safety of goods and people, and the accessibility of the real estate market », Supports Olivier Pradeau.
The Managing Director of Monaco Properties explains: “ a reversal of the trend is expected for 2023: as we saw during the economic crises of 2000 and 2008, the real estate market lost between 30 and 50% of the number of transactions over the following years, i.e. in 2002, 2009 and 2010. It is believed that with interest rates stabilizing at high levels, a euro which is strengthening against the dollar, and the additional constraints that will be implemented on property merchantsthe real estate market in 2023 will be less dynamic, even if transaction prices will remain stable. »