The cooling seen in Belgium's property market has continued throughout the first half of this year – driven largely by higher interest rates. But despite the fall in sales, house and flat prices are continuing to rise.
Whereas the first nine months 2021 saw rapid growth in the number of property transactions, pushing prices up, the market in Belgium cooled in 2022 with a particular drop in sales in the second half of the year. Figures released by Statbel, the Belgian statistics office, show that this trend continued in the first half of 2023.
From January to July, the number of houses sold fell by almost a quarter (23%) compared to the same period last year, while 16% fewer flats were sold.
Speaking to The Brussels Times, Bart van Opstal of the Federation of Notaries (Fednot) explained that the cooling of Belgium's property market has been going on for a long time. "This makes sense because interest is higher, making borrowing more expensive... People are still looking to buy but many are waiting to save more."
Prices not following suit
What is remarkable, van Opstal stresses, is that despite the drop in transactions the Belgian median price for both houses and flats has not also fallen.
The median cost of terraced or semi-detached houses rose from €230,000 in 2021 to €251,137 in 2022. Over the last year it has risen to €259,500 – up almost 10% in two years. Detached houses are 8% more expensive than in 2021 with the median price now €365,000. For flats the median price rose from €215,000 in 2021 to €237,000 at the start of this year.
"The most recent figures published by Fednot (based on sales agreements) show a small decrease in prices in Brussels and Wallonia but we have not seen a real decrease that follows the market. Property prices are staying high."
But Van Opstal expects that the market will soon shift: the gap between fewer transactions and high prices is unlikely to remain this wide. "Either transactions remain low and prices will have to come down or purchases will pick up and the higher prices will become normal."
He believes that the direction of change will become clear in the coming weeks. At the start of October, Fednot will release the latest figures for the property market. "Those figures will indicate what trend are emerging."
Cheapest and most expensive
During the first half of 2023, Statbel figures showed that Wallonia remains Belgium's least expensive region with a median price of €175,000 for terraced or semi-detached houses and €285,000 for detached houses. Brussels is still the most expensive, costing €480,000 and €902,500, respectively.
In the capital, the municipality of Ixelles had the highest median house price at €812,500 while the lowest median price for houses in the region can be found in the municipality of Anderlecht (€321,500).
Woluwe-Saint-Pierre was the municipality with the highest median price for a flat at €345,000. The lowest median price was again in the commune of Anderlecht (€194,000). The cheapest Flemish province is Limburg, while the cheapest Walloon province is Hainaut.
