2023-05-17 04:36:00
The sky has darkened over the real estate market on the Belgian coast. Not only has it lost some of its aficionados, but its sea view no longer has the success of yesteryear. The price of apartments on the dike has indeed fallen by 5%, while those located at the back have lost only 0.7%. Looking more closely at Fednot’s figures, however, we realize that everything is not so clear. The notary Bart van Opstal prefers to speak of catching up and cooling off rather than of retreat and, most certainly, of a possible prelude to a crisis.
1. Very sharp drop in the number of real estate transactions
It is undeniable: 2022 marks time and signals the end of the rush for coastal real estate. While activity in Belgium and Flanders fell by 2% last year compared to 2021, for the dozen seaside resorts, the decline is more marked since it reached 14.3%. “Which is considerable”, agrees Me Van Opstal. However, this decline follows a sharp increase in 2021 (+15.8% compared to 2020).
“With the pandemic (just remember that Belgians were then banned from vacationing abroad and vice versa, Editor’s note), the market had a huge spike. The cooling in 2022 is to be seen as a return to normal, he confirms. What is more striking, on the other hand, is that it continues in 2023, with a drop in the number of transactions of 14% also during the first quarter compared to the same period in 2022, which, itself, was down sharply compared to the first quarter of 2021. What to worry regarding? “Not for the moment, he smiled, because average prices have not followed the same path. But if they were to fall…”
2. Price stability for apartments except on the dyke
As surprising as it may seem, the sharp decline in demand did not affect average prices, which therefore stabilized (-0.7%). “This is explained by the fact that the Coast presents a two-speed market, continues the Fednot spokesperson, with, on the one hand, a strong demand for new or recent properties and, on the other, a lack of interest in old properties, buyers not wanting to embark on work. It’s those whose prices are under pressure that bring the average down.”
It is also for this same reason that prices on the dyke are down more (-5%), since this is where there are fewer new promotions. “And this is not new. Over the past five years, they have only increased by 10% on average compared to 15% elsewhere, which is already not huge. Which makes us say that the investment on the Coast, on the dyke certainly, is not, on average, very buoyant.”
3. The Coast remains the Eldorado of West Flanders
Although the Coast lost momentum last year, it is nonetheless the real estate spearhead of Flanders (where it accounts for 7.2% of real estate transactions), particularly in West Flanders (a third of transactions). “The Coast has always been a specific market, insist Bart Van Opstal. Not least because its buyers come from everywhere, not just from Flanders or West Flanders.” It should be noted that nearly half of coastal sales are made in Ostend, Knokke and Coxyde.
4. Westende and Knokke-Heist deviate from the average
As for years, the first step of the prize podium is squatted by Knokke, both on the dyke (more than one million euros on average) and at the back (more than 650,000 euros). In contrast, we find Westende, the only one to display a price below the 200,000 euro mark. “It’s a very narrow market and it only takes two or three projects to be launched or not to be launched to influence the averages, or even to go once morest the general trend”note Me Van Opstal.
It is however not for lack of having aroused interest with candidates, it which signs the only positive evolution of the activity of the Coast (+13.6%). This while in Koksijde and Knokke, the negative evolution exceeds 20%! “It must be said that the average prices had exploded there in 2021, which must have curbed amateurs.”
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