Mortgage rates in France: where they stand at the end of September 2026

Where rates stand at the end of September 2026

Two series serve as the benchmark, and they do not measure quite the same thing. The Banque de France publishes each month the average rate on new housing loans to individuals, excluding renegotiations, across all terms. The Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA draws its figures from loans guaranteed by Crédit Logement and breaks them down by term. Both come with a lag: at 30 September 2026, the first stops at July, the second at August.

In July 2026, according to the Banque de France, the average rate on new housing loans was 3.30 %, against 3.09 % in July 2025. That is a rise of 0.21 point in a year. Seasonally adjusted lending for the month fell back to 11 billion euros, after 13.2 billion in June.

The Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA gives an average rate of 3.31 % in August 2026 across all markets, against 3.06 % in August 2025. Over 15 years, a loan was agreed on average at 3.14 %. Over 20 years, at 3.27 %, and over 25 years at 3.35 %. In August 2025 the same terms stood at 3.01 %, 3.08 % and 3.16 %.

The average rate is rising faster than any single term, and the Observatoire explains why. To make their financing work, borrowers are stretching the term. In August 2026, 49.3 % of loans were granted over at least 25 years, against 46.8 % across 2025, and the average term reached 252 months. Longer loans cost more, which pulls the average up.

Why they are rising: the ECB, and above all government borrowing

The rate on a fixed-rate loan depends first on what money costs the bank over a long period. Two public benchmarks measure it. The European Central Bank's policy rate weighs on short-term refinancing; the yield on ten-year French government bonds is the reference for long loans.

On 10 September 2026 the ECB Governing Council raised its three key rates by 0.25 point, and the deposit facility rate moved to 2.50 % on 16 September. It was the second rise of the year. Held at 2.00 % since 11 June 2025, the rate had been lifted to 2.25 % on 17 June 2026. The ECB justifies its decision by inflation that, on its own projections, is set to stay well above target for an extended period.

Government yields have climbed faster still. The TEC 10, a daily index published by the Banque de France from French Treasury bonds, stood at 4.742 % on 29 September 2026, against 3.53 % on 29 September 2025. It has gained 1.2 points in a year, while the average mortgage rate gained only a fifth of that.

The gap between the two curves shows that banks have absorbed part of the shock. According to the Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA, they first chose to protect their volumes by delaying increases, at the cost of thinner margins, and resumed raising rates from June.

What comes next is not forecast here. The ECB itself says it decides meeting by meeting, based on the data, without committing to a path. Its next monetary policy meeting takes place on 28 and 29 October 2026.

The rules that frame borrowing

Since 1 January 2022, the criteria set by the Haut Conseil de stabilité financière (France's macroprudential authority) have been binding on banks. Its decision of 29 September 2021 sets two. The borrower's debt-service ratio must not exceed 35 % of income, calculated including borrower insurance and any other loans. The loan term must not exceed 25 years.

There is an exception on term when moving in is deferred, for a new-build purchase or a purchase with works amounting to at least 25 % of the total cost of the operation. The total term can then reach 27 years, including a repayment deferral of two years at most.

Banks keep some room to manoeuvre. Each quarter, 20 % of their new mortgage lending may depart from these criteria. Since the decision of 29 June 2023, at least 70 % of that margin goes to buyers of their main residence, with at least 30 % reserved for first-time buyers. The rest, 6 % of quarterly lending, can be used freely. A second home or a rental investment must therefore fit the criteria, or find its place in that free share.

The usury ceiling is the second limit. It is the maximum annual percentage rate a bank may charge, insurance included, and the Banque de France sets it each quarter from the average rates observed in the previous quarter. For 1 October to 31 December 2026, published on 28 September, it stands at 4.09 % for a fixed-rate loan of under 10 years, 4.68 % from 10 to under 20 years, and 5.40 % from 20 years. The last threshold was 5.29 % in the third quarter.

The margin remains wide. In the third quarter of 2026, the average effective rate charged on loans of 20 years or more came to 4.05 %, according to the Banque de France, 1.35 point below the new ceiling. The files that come close are, as a rule, those where insurance is expensive, and it is then the insurance, more than the nominal rate, that decides whether the loan can be made.

What 300,000 € of borrowing costs: a hypothetical example

Take a textbook case, hypothetical and presented as such: 300,000 € borrowed, repaid in equal monthly instalments, at the average rate published by the Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA for August 2026. The calculation excludes borrower insurance and guarantee or arrangement fees, which come on top. It is not a loan offer; it gives an order of magnitude.

Over 20 years at 3.27 %, the monthly payment comes to 1,704.63 €, and total interest to about 109,100 €. At the August 2025 rate for the same term, 3.08 %, it would have been 1,675.83 €. The past year therefore costs 28.80 € a month, or 6,912 € over the life of the loan.

Over 25 years at 3.35 %, the payment drops to 1,477.84 €, but interest rises to about 143,350 €. Adding five years lightens each month by 226.79 € and adds about 34,240 € to the total cost.

Measured against the 35 % rule, these payments imply income of at least about 4,870 € a month over 20 years, and at least 4,222 € over 25 years. That is a floor: insurance and any other loans go into the same calculation.

To place this sum in Nice, our article on prices district by district uses an OIH median of 4,750 €/m² for older flats in the first quarter of 2025. At that level, 300,000 € buys around sixty square metres, before purchase costs. The figure is dated, and districts depart from it sharply in both directions. It is a scale, not a valuation.

What weighs on a loan file, beyond the rate

The deposit is measured first against purchase costs. For an older property, the so-called notary fees in Nice come to about 7.2 % of the price, most of it tax, as our article on the subject explains. A deposit that covers them keeps them out of the loan. The Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA notes that the average personal contribution rose by only 1.1 % over the first eight months of 2026, and that borrowers able to put down a large deposit are taking a growing share of the market.

A mortgage broker puts several banks in competition, on the rate as well as on insurance. The broker's fee, where there is one, is part of the total cost of the operation and should be compared like everything else. Whatever the channel, the borrower has a cooling-off period of 10 calendar days after receiving the loan offer, and it cannot be shortened.

For a non-resident buyer, banks apply their own criteria, often stricter on the deposit and on the source of income; our article « Buying in Nice when you are not resident » sets out how the process runs.

Every property page on the site includes a financing simulator, which works out an indicative monthly payment from the deposit, the rate and the term, excluding insurance. It helps place a property within a budget before speaking to a bank. Advice on a specific file belongs to the bank or the broker; 107 Promenade supports the buyer, from 107 Promenade des Anglais, from the first viewing to the deed.