The rush on properties located on the Belgian coast seems to have passed its peak, which is already lowering the sky-high prices of seaside flats, especially those situated on promenades.
Overall, the property market in Belgium experienced a slump last year of 2% compared to 2021, a drop that was much larger on the Belgian coast. In the past year, the number of property transactions on the coast fell by 14.3% compared to the previous year, the new Coastal Barometer from the Federation of Notaries (Fednot) showed.
"After particularly busy years with many transactions and price increases, the rush on coastal real estate is behind us for now. The pandemic caused a huge spike in the market, but that effect no longer played out in 2022," notary Bart van Opstal, spokesperson for Notaris.be, said.
The cooling off was particularly pronounced in the first half of last year when there were fewer transactions (-18.5%) compared to the same period in 2021. By the second half of the year, the decline was smaller (-9.5%). This trend continued during the first three months of 2023 when the number of transactions dropped by 14% compared to the already poorly performing period in 2022.
Cheapest and most expensive locations
The number of transactions decreased last year in all coastal municipalities, except in Westende, where this figure increased by almost 14%. The largest drop was recorded in the western town of Koksijde (-20.7%) and the most eastern municipality at the Belgian coast, Knokke (-21.5%).
"The downturn in Koksijde and Knokke came after fierce price increases in 2021: the average price of an apartment there then rose by almost 14% and 17%," van Opstal noted. Still, Knokke and Koksijde, alongside Oostende, accounted for most of the transactions on the coast.
Knokke, where the average price for a property rose above €650,000 for the first time ever, remains the most expensive location to buy a flat at the Belgian coast. Despite a 3.5% drop in the price, a property right by the beach here still costs on average €1,008,685.
In Westende, the cheapest coastal municipality, the average cost is €167,630, which can help explain the rise in popularity. There, a promenade flat costs an average of €206,000.
The average price of an apartment in a coastal town comes in at around €295,000, similar to what people forked out for a property here in 2021. Those who bought a flat right by the seaside on the promenade paid an average of almost €348,000, some 5% less than the previous year, but these properties are still one-fifth more expensive than those located further from the beach.
Over the past five years, the price both for flats in a coastal town and right by the sea has risen by 15% and 10%, respectively. Throughout this period, existing properties became a bit cheaper, but the price of newly constructed properties was still on the rise, according to van Opstal.
