Property in 2020: what is the outlook after six months?

The Federation of Belgian Notaries’ (Fednot) property barometer for the second quarter has been published. What are the key takeaways? 

1. The abolition of the woonbonus in Flanders and the coronavirus crisis

According to Fednot, Belgium has not seen such a low number of property transactions since 2015. During the second quarter of 2020, the number of transactions fell by 15.9% compared with the same period in 2019. This decline can be partly attributed to the abolition of the woonbonus in Flanders and undoubtedly to the property sector being brought to a standstill during lockdown.
The impact of the health crisis on the figures for this second quarter was not the same across the three regions:
– In Wallonia, the decline was 12.3%
– In Flanders, it was 17.7%
– In Brussels, it was 17.2%
Over the first six months of 2020, property transactions fell by 7.7%, 12.6% and 7.9% respectively.

2. A recovering market

” At present, it is still too early to say whether the coronavirus has had a significant impact on property prices. The coronavirus crisis has led to many changes in working practices. The coronavirus slowed down processes involving public authorities and notaries’ offices, which had to work differently. This may have delayed certain property transactions. We therefore need to wait a few more months to gain a clear picture of the coronavirus’s impact on property prices”, says Renaud Grégoire, spokesperson for notaire.be.

Furthermore, some figures give us reason to hope for a strong recovery. Although investors are still fairly cautious, we are seeing people buying properties as their own homes again.
Over the first six months of 2020, the average price of a house in Belgium rose by 1.9% compared with the same period the previous year.
The increase was even greater for flats: 5.9% compared with the first six months of 2019.

We therefore do not yet have enough hindsight to draw any conclusions about the property market in 2020, but many signs give us reason to be optimistic (given the current situation).