Many developers have seen the sale of new homes slow down in recent weeks, according to a survey published by De Tijd on Tuesday. “We have been feeling uncertainty on the market for a month and a half,” says the director of Immobel Belgium, Adel Yahia. “Investors continue to buy houses to rent them because real estate remains a safe haven. But with individuals, the selling process is longer. People take more time to decide.”
Fewer homes on the market
“Due to some project launches, we still had an excellent month of May,” explains for his part the co-CEO of the real estate developer ION in West Flanders, Davy Demuynck. “But the general trend is cooling. There is economic uncertainty. Some developers have put their projects on hold, which means that fewer homes are coming to market. And rising interest rates are scaring away some individual buyers.”
Rising prices
Inflation and rising mortgage rates, which make real estate much more expensive, explain the hesitant attitude of potential buyers. In addition, prices for new homes rose sharply last year. This development was initially stimulated by the growing demand for new construction from investors looking for energy-efficient properties. The war in Ukraine and rising energy costs, meanwhile, sent building material prices skyrocketing.
Recently, we mentioned, paradoxically, the explosion in sales of houses worth more than one million euros: