The Belgian real estate market continued to slow in the first quarter of 2024, but most property prices still continued to rise. Brussels however did see a slight fall in house prices.
Real estate transactions dropped 7.3% compared to the first quarter of 2023, the Real Estate Barometer of the Federation of Notaries (Fednot) showed. Already in 2023 there were 15% fewer sales than in 2022; this negative trend was driven by high mortgage rates and the general economic situation is continuing.
Despite the cool down in transactions, prices have only slightly fallen from the historic highs seen in the wake of the pandemic. A general confidence in the real estate market and the ever-strong desire of Belgians to own their own home has reduced the drop in prices that some experts expected.
The average price of both houses and flats rose slightly in 2023 (+1.7% to €328,187 and +1.3% to €268,256, respectively). This does not account for inflation. "In Flanders the average price of a residential house even rose by 2.4% to €367,120," said Bart van Opstal, spokesperson for Notaris.be. With inflation taken into account prices remained stable, even though Flanders recorded the largest drop in sales (-17%).
Is the housing market cooling in Brussels?
The average price of a house in Wallonia in the last quarter was €239,886 (a 0.3% drop not counting inflation). In Brussels, the price fell to €545,210 (-3.1%). The drop in prices in the capital region was the highest, even though the number of sales recorded the smallest decrease.
Brussels was the only place in Belgium to see a noticeable drop in prices in recent months. Last year, the median price of a detached house fell significantly to €850,000, a -21% decrease after costing over €1 million for several years. This was explained by buyers reaching their maximum borrowing capacity more quickly as high interest rates affected mortgages.
Meanwhile, flat prices in Brussels rose by 3% to an average of €288,878 – about €20,000 more than the average flat price for the whole of Belgium (€268,256). The average price of an apartment in Flanders rose to €279,811 (+1.2%).
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With the European Central Bank (ECB) not expected to lower interest rates until June, it is likely the market will continue to cool in the coming months.
Whilst there was an influx of young people entering the real estate market in 2022 and 2023, this has now subsided. In the first quarter of 2024, 27.1% of buyers in Belgium were 30 years old or younger, 2% less than in 2023.
