While prices for existing property have been stabilising for several years in Belgium, the cost of new-builds continues to rise, according to the Matexi and Realo New Construction Barometer published last week.
New construction prices increased again in the first quarter compared to the last three months of 2024: newly-built houses became 1.38% more expensive, while the price of new-build apartments went up by 0.88%. Year-on-year, prices rose by 3.59% and 1.63%, respectively.
"After a period of stabilisation in the last quarter of 2024, we saw prices for new-build real estate rise again in the first quarter of 2025. This indicates an insufficient balance between supply and demand, and it remains essential to closely monitor further developments," said Roel Helgers, Market Economist at Matexi.
He stressed that the scarcity of supply remains a major challenge. "For example, we saw the number of building permits issued in 2024 fall further by 13.2% compared to 2023."
Big regional differences
Regarding new apartments, price increases in Flanders (+1.61%), Wallonia (+1.17%), and Brussels (+3.13%) are remarkably similar compared to the first quarter of 2024 and clearly show an upward trend, according to the barometer.
Regional differences, however, are much more pronounced on the new housing market. Wallonia once again emerges as the main driver of national price increases, with an increase of 3.66% on a quarterly basis and 5.18% on an annual basis. The trend is much more moderate in Flanders, with increases of 1.05% and 3.33%, respectively.
Still, the average price for a newly-built house in Wallonia remains much lower than in Flanders. For a semi-detached house of 160 m², three bedrooms, one bathroom and a garden, the average price in Flanders is €426,216. This is almost €80,000 more expensive than in Wallonia, where the average price for the same house is €348,207.
Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
For Brussels, no separate calculations were made due to the limited amount of data for new-build houses.
For newly-built apartments, however, Brussels is by far the most expensive region: the average price for a newly-built apartment of 95 m² with two bedrooms and one bathroom in the Capital Region was €404,119 in the first quarter of this year – considerably more expensive than the much bigger above-mentioned semi-detached house with garden in Wallonia.
Additionally, such an apartment in Brussels is also over €75,000 more expensive than in Flanders (€328,481) and even over €125,000 more than in Wallonia (€278,766).
'Worrying' trend
In the face of these price hikes, Matexi and Realo pointed out what they called "a worrying trend" in the longer term: the affordability of new houses and apartments has declined.
Since the first quarter of 2020, at the very beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, the prices of new apartments and new houses have increased by 23.9% and 31.3%, respectively. At the same time, household borrowing capacity has only increased by 9.9%, mainly due to rising interest rates.
"The figures show once again that the real estate market works at two speeds: existing real estate and new construction," said Fabrice Luyckx, data analyst at Realo. "While the prices for existing real estate in Belgium have remained stable for a few years now, the prices for new construction continue to rise."
This mainly puts pressure on the affordability and the supply of energy-efficient homes on the market, he stressed. "In combination with the relaxed renovation obligation of the new Flemish Government, the question arises as to how we will still achieve the climate objectives by 2050 in the current situation."
