The cooling of Belgium's property market has resulted in house prices dropping in the first six months of 2023, with the most pronounced decrease found in Brussels.
In the first half of this year, the number of real estate transactions across Belgium decreased compared to last year, spurring prices to drop. A house in Belgium cost an average of €320,937 during the first half of this year, a 0.3% decline compared to the annual average of 2022, the most recent Real Estate Barometer of the Federation of Notaries (Fednot) showed.
"This is striking because in recent years the price of a house rose constantly. By comparison: in 2018, the average price of a house in Belgium was €253,608," Bart van Opstal, spokesperson for Notaris.be, said.
In Brussels, where activity on the property market was 3.7% lower than in 2022, the drop in house prices was greater (-4.1%), with prices slumping to an average price of €536,712.
Brussels was also the only region in Belgium where the cost of flats has also dropped (-0.6%) compared to the 2022 annual average, declining to €273,208. New-build flats were bought in the region at an average of €344,514.
Despite the drop, Brussels is still the most expensive place in Belgium to buy property. The price for a house in the capital has risen by almost a quarter (23.7%) in the last five years, while flats have become one-fifth more expensive. Meanwhile, there were more transactions (+4.2%) in the second quarter of 2023, meaning the effect on prices is expected to be limited.
Regional differences
In Flanders, buyers paid an average of €358,863 for a house in the first six months of this year, marking a 1.7% rise without taking inflation into account. The largest increase was recorded in Limburg, a Flemish province popular among buyers of a younger age due to its cheaper property prices. The average price for a house here increased by a full 4% to €309,329.
The average price of a flat in the Flemish Region clocked in at €263,953 (+2.5%). "On average, buyers had to pay around €7,000 more for a flat compared to last year."
Credit: Belga / Nicolas Lambert
In Wallonia, the average price for a house fell by 1.4% to €236,148 compared to last year, while the price for a flat rose by 2.4%, to an average price of €199,530.
Across Belgium, buyers had to pay on average around €4,000 more for a flat compared to last year, as the average price of a flat in Belgium increased by 1.7% to €255,882. In the first six months of this year, a flat was about €65,000 cheaper than a house. "By comparison, in 2018, the price difference was around €42,000," Fednot noted.
The proportion of young buyers, aged 30 or younger, decreased compared to 2022: Their share was now 27.3%, while last year it was 29.3%. In the first half of 2023, buyers were 40.2 years old on average. The share of younger buyers was the smallest in Brussels.
