The latest real estate barometer from notaries showed that the real estate market experienced a slight cooling in 2022. The number of transactions showed a drop of 2% across Belgium and 2.1% in Wallonia. It was especially in the second half that activity experienced a real slowdown, with a 7.1% drop in transactions compared to the first half.
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A trend which further increased during the first two months of the year. Across the country as a whole, the drop thus amounts to 10.5% compared to the same period in 2022. Wallonia seems to suffer less from the blow, with a drop of 4% while it amounts to 14 .2% in Flanders and 6.4% in Brussels.
“In January, real estate activity in Wallonia remained relatively stable (-1.1%). In February, it was a drop of -7%. In Brussels, the drop was -8.6% in January, -4.1% in February”, says Renaud Grégoire, spokesperson for Notaire.be. “In Flanders, the fall in January was slightly greater than in February: -15.3% against -12.9%.
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The main reason for this drop in activity is to be attributed to the rise in interest rates on mortgage loans. “Anyone who borrows will notice this immediately from the extra monthly amount that has to be paid. The amount borrowed is higher in Flanders than in Brussels and Wallonia, which is why the cooling is felt more quickly. in this region”
In Wallonia, there is a decrease of -2.4% for the sale of apartments during the first two months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. The number of houses sold decreased by -7.6%.
On the Walloon side, it is Luxembourg (-12.5%) and Walloon Brabant (-6.5%) that are most affected. Namur (-1.8%, Liège (-3; 9%) and Hainaut (-0.8%) resist better.
“The real estate market has been particularly active in recent years. So much so that buyers sometimes had to decide very quickly whether to buy or not. Now they have a bit more negotiating room, which is a good thing. As far as the market is concerned, it looks more like normalization. In terms of real estate activity, we are just below the level of the pre-corona period”concludes Renaud Grégoire.