2024-02-16 09:34:00
Rising real estate prices, increased rates on mortgage loans or even an explosion in construction costs: the explosive cocktail is not without effect on the real estate market. And this is also felt in the banks, where the demand for and the granting of mortgage loans are in free fall.
As for BNP Paribas Fortis, leader in mortgage lending in Belgium, we see that 2023 was not a great year. Last year, Belgians took out 180,000 loans for a total of 29.9 billion euros, compared to 255,000 loans and a record amount of 42.8 billion euros in 2022, a decline of 30%. The bank, for its part, recorded a 31% reduction in loan requests, a level which had not been reached since 2012.
With rates having increased sharply, to exceed 4%, borrowers have been more cautious. Logically, refinancing requests collapsed and borrowers wanted to play it safe by opting for fixed rates. Regarding the amounts borrowed, they amount to €219,000 on average for an apartment and €229,000 for a house.
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Good news however, this drop in activity has not put a damper on young people’s desire to own their home. Those under 30 were indeed very dynamic, representing almost a third of the loans granted (29%), a sharp increase compared to 2022.
How to explain this phenomenon ? “No doubt the parents put their hands in their pockets to help their offspring,” says Jean-François Tilly, mortgage loan expert at BNP Paribas Fortis. “But the new 30-year mortgage credit formula also weighed in the balance.”
Other major players, single people and single-parent families, were granted 32% of mortgage loans in 2023.
On the other hand, one category has fallen behind, that of over 55s. Barely 7% of credits were granted to them last year.
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Batibouw, which opens its doors on Saturday, will perhaps give a boost to the market, especially as mortgage rates seem to be stabilizing, or even falling slightly, with certain banks.
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