Close to three-quarters (74%) of young Belgians keep within their initial budgets when buying their first home, according to a study commissioned by Axa Bank for the Batibouw 2020 construction fair, now running in Brussels.
Despite the uninterrupted rise in real estate prices in Belgium, most of the young respondents (aged between 22 and 35 years) polled by Ipsos on behalf of the bank managed to spend less than 300,000 euros on their first home.
The amounts they had to fork out varied from region to region.
In Brussels, 32% bought homes ranging between 200,000 and 300,000 euros, and in Flanders 37% did so. In Wallonia, on the other hand, 50% paid less than 200,000 euros for their first home.
Buyers are willing to make a number of concessions to keep costs down. In 30% of cases, “the dream home has to make way for a building that needs some renovation work,” Axa noted.
Young people are also prepared to accept a two-family house although they would have liked to purchase a single-family home.
Of the 26% who went over budget, many said they did so after they found their ideal home.
Generally, young people spend 32% of their monthly incomes on mortgage loans.
The Brussels Times
