Property prices in Brussels rise less than in other regions‎
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Loading... - Richard Patterson
- 11 Feb 2022
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The price of apartments in Brussels increased by 2.2% last year, compared to 2020. This was less than in Flanders and Wallonia, where they rose by 5.9% and 2.9%, respectively. The increase was stronger for houses, but here too it was more limited in Brussels than elsewhere. The most expensive real estate municipality remained Ixelles, according to figures from the Federation of Notaries (Fednot).
The number of real estate transactions was 11.1% higher in Brussels in 2021. In Flanders, 14.7% more transactions took place, in Wallonia 14.3%.
A house in Belgium costs about €270,000 (median), an increase of 8% compared to 2020. In Brussels, the increase was smaller (+5.2%) with a house costing about €462,750. In Flanders, it was a larger increase (7.1%) but according to the median, a house still costs less (€300,000) than in the capital. In Wallonia, a house costs 'only' €192,000 (+6.1%).
In the Brussels region, Ixelles is the most expensive municipality to buy a house. The median price for a house was €690,000, an increase of 15% compared to 2020. More than three-quarters of the houses in Ixelles cost more than €462,750 (the median at regional level). Last year, Uccle was in first place with a median price of €630,000.
"We note that the price increase in the already expensive southern municipalities seems to have no end, and that at the same time the northern municipalities are rising unabated," said Stijn Joye, notary of Fednot.
"The median prices for a home in Brussels are approaching the €500,000 mark, and that means that for one house in two, no discount can be enjoyed on a first purchase." Anyone who buys real estate in Brussels for the first time does not have to pay registration fees on the first €175,000 euros. That advantage does not apply if the purchase price is above half a million.
The cheapest municipality in the Brussels region to buy a house remained Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, where a house cost €330,000, according to the median (+9.1%). In 2020, it was still €302,500.
Only in three Brussels municipalities did the price of a house go down. These were Saint-Gilles, where a house cost €469,000 (-8.1%), Etterbeek at €577,500 (-3.8%) and Laeken at €337,500 (-10%). The municipality where prices rose the most last year was Jette with an increase of 21.2% to €394,000.
The increase in houses (+5.5%) in Brussels was higher than that of apartments (+2.2%). "We see this as a confirmation of the 'lockdown effect'," says Stijn Joye. "Buyers prefer a house, preferably with a garden or terrace. That of course gives more comfort for teleworking, and in good weather you can go in the garden or on the terrace." Read More…
