2023-08-22 09:00:00
The title of capital of Wallonia held by Namur since 1986 does not seem to have any effect on its real estate market. No more than its very large size (more than 110,000 inhabitants). Looking closely at the evolution of the median prices of its dwelling houses, it hardly differs from that displayed by Gembloux (see infographic below), 20 kilometers away and which brings together barely more than a quarter of its population.
©IPM Graphics
It is even from Gembloux that came, in 2000, the very timid breakthrough of the Namurois in the top 20 Walloon municipalities of the most expensive municipalities produced by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, traditionally squatted by Brabant cities (Waterloo, Lasne, Chaumont-Gistoux, Ottignies-LLN and other Walhain), Luxembourg (Arlon, Attert…) or Liège (Aubel, Eupen…).
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“Gembloux has a great appeal for those fleeing the pressure of prices in Brussels and Brabant. Especially since it benefits from important lines of communication.”
On the edge of Walloon Brabant
Of course, in real estate, location takes precedence over everything else. In this regard, Gembloux wins in its fictitious duel with Namur because, for Namuroise that it is, the city is located on the edge of Walloon Brabant. It also neighbors the Brabant towns of Chastre and Perwez. “The Brussels and Walloon Brabant effect which is spreading is important”, notes David Remy, notary in Fernelmont, who knows the Namurois well to analyze it for ten years within the real estate unit of Fednot . “After Wavre, Ottignies, Chaumont-Gistoux, Walhain…, Gembloux is a great attraction for those fleeing the pressure of prices in Brussels and Brabant. Especially since it benefits from major communication axes – railway station, National 4, easy access to the E411 and the E42… – which it highlights.” Like the other Namur municipalities listed in the far north of the province, such as La Bruyère and Eghezée. “Which does not allow them despite everything to benefit from the real estate aura of Walloon Brabant and its price differential, he smiles. No offense, Gembloux is and remains in Namur, even if it is at a near street.”
What factors influence the price of a property?
City policies
However, this greater proximity to the capital Region and Walloon Brabant is not enough to explain why prices in Gemblout are higher than those in Namur. According to the notary, it is on the urban policy and on the strategies in terms of developments and mobility that we must turn. “City policies on whether or not to accommodate housing, whether or not to encourage renovation, are of key importance in terms of real estate, explains David Remy. For several years now, Gembloux has been strengthening its near outskirts (on old industrial zone, along the N4, towards Sombreffe, etc.), while preserving its villages (Sauvenière, Grand-Leez, etc.), is developing its education centers and trying to align itself in terms of shops and tourism with d “other cities. Which, even without having the fame of Namur, creates a fabric of life conducive to the development of the city. It is also surprising that the price difference has only recently widened.” Not without acknowledging that the center of Gembloux “does not really live”, “is a bit sad”.
“But the center of Namur does not live well either…” adds Me Remy, who points to successive construction sites, a complicated pedestrian area and, above all, major problems of accessibility by car and a significant lack of parking lots.
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Hunting for kots and small dwellings without a permit
“The development of the city from the 60s and 70s until today has shifted towards Jambes, Erpent, Flawinne, Vedrin…, with exponential densification. The center is home to more administrations than housing and , apart from a few projects that can be counted on the fingers of one hand, has not benefited from this urban renewal. The number of old condominiums and apartments whose installations are over 50 years old is impressive… lists the real estate prices, it does not take into account the condition of the goods, their size… The fact of having refused to register a shopping center on the outskirts to confine it intramurally did not make it possible to win inhabitants, not even to keep them. The city center of Namur, like that of many Walloon urban centers, has become impoverished, following the replacement of its bourgeois owners by tenants with lower incomes through too many divisions of houses. For more than 10 years, the City has embarked on a hunt for kots and small dwellings without a permit in order to be able to accommodate families. “But it can take time,” admits the notary.
“Contrary to all expectations, the status of capital of Wallonia has not attracted new customers likely to put pressure on prices, concludes David Remy. Namur has remained very Namur. By comparison, Gembloux, which has less identity than Namur and few listings, attracts new blood. In the eyes of those who work in Brussels, Louvain-la-Neuve, Wavre, Rixensart, its villages are welcoming.” The Walloon capital is nevertheless changing with areas undergoing renovation, particularly near the station and the new courthouse.
La Bruyère, the… “Waterloo of Namur”
In order to demonstrate the importance of the real estate policies put in place by the public authorities, certainly the municipal ones, Me David Remy points to the case of La Bruyère, a neighbor of Gembloux, similarly located in the north of the province of Namur. “The municipality has bet on wanting to be the… Waterloo of Namur, explains straight away the notary Remy, imposing, in terms of town planning, a division of the land into large plots on which only large houses might be built. At the time, moreover, those who bought land in La Bruyère were not locals, but came from outside.” Hence the more marked price increases in recent years. “Eghezée, its counterpart on the other side of the motorway, almost at the same height, has not had the same development and does not have the same prices”, further specifies Me Remy.
Real estate: until 2005, Ganshoren and Ixelles showed almost the same prices. What regarding today ?
summer series
La Libre Eco is launching the last series of its summer 2023 this Saturday. This highlights the sometimes very discordant real estate development of two municipalities that are nevertheless almost neighbors. The first “duel of municipalities” sees the seaside resorts of Knokke-Heist and Le Coq or Coxyde compete. Others will follow, pitting Ixelles and Ganshoren, Namur and Gembloux or even Arlon and Libramont. For a total of six duels. With the assistance of notaries or real estate agents, and Statbel for the figures.
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