Like last year, the most expensive street in Brussels is the Avenue des Châlets in the municipality of Uccle – towards the outer edge of the Capital Region. It is not only the costliest street in the capital, but also in the whole of Belgium.
Real estate website Immoweb released its annual analysis of the property prices in Belgium's largest cities, ranking the most expensive and cheapest urban streets in the country based on the average price per square metre.
"These figures give a clear picture of how big the price differences are, not only between regions but also from neighbourhood to neighbourhood," said Immoweb.
As in previous years, the Avenue des Châlets in Uccle – in a chic district close to the Sonian Forest – is the most expensive street in Brussels and Belgium, with an average price of €5,687/m², which is almost the same as last year.
Avenue des Châlets vs Rue de Groeninghe
The second most expensive street in Brussels is the Allée du Cloître near the Abbaye de la Cambre (€5,570/m²), followed by the Avenue des Klauwaerts near the Étangs d'Ixelles (€5,536/m²) in third place.
Rounding out the top five are Rue de la Vallée (€5,532/m²), also close to the Étangs d'Ixelles, and Rue Louis Hymans (€5,496/m²) in Ixelles.
The five cheapest streets in the entire Brussels-Capital Region are all located in a radius of roughly 2-3 kilometres in the same municipality: Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.
Rue Groenighe in Molenbeek. Credit: Screen.brussels
Like last year, the cheapest street to live on in Brussels is the Rue de Groeninghe (€2,241/m²) in Molenbeek's historic centre, with early 20th-century buildings.
Second and third-cheapest are Rue de Gosselies (€2,249/m²) and Rue de Manchester (€2,266/m²), respectively. To round out the bottom five are Rue de Liverpool (€2,279/m²) in fourth and Rue de Courtrai (€2290/m²) in fifth place.
The reputation of Molenbeek (as well as parts of Anderlecht) has suffered massively following the 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels, and the recent drug-related crime and associated safety issues have not helped – keeping prices relatively low.
Rest of Belgium
Outside Brussels, the most expensive street in Belgium is the Vogelmarkt in the city of Ghent, with an average price of €5,238/m².
The other four streets in the top five are all in the city of Leuven: Rector De Somerplein (€5,105/m²) in second place, followed by Leopold Vanderkelenstraat (€5,100/m²) in third. In fourth and fifth place are Monseigneur Ladeuzeplein (€4,948/m²) and Drinkwaterstraat (€4943/m²), respectively.
After Brussels and Leuven, the cities with the most expensive streets in Belgium are Antwerp, Bruges, Mechelen, Hasselt and Ostende – all in Flanders.
The first Walloon city on the list is Namur, with Rue Saint-Jean (€3,199/m²). Next is Liège, where the Boulevard Frère-Orban (€2,729/m²) is the city's most expensive street. The most expensive street in Mons is the Rue Notre-Dame Débonnaire (€2,186/m²), and in Charleroi is the 4ème Avenue (€1,857/m²).
An aerial view of the centre of Charleroi, near the river Sambre. Credit: Belga / Denis Vasilov
Meanwhile, the cheapest urban street in Belgium can also be found in Charleroi: the average price on the city's Rue Maréchal Foch is €1,229/m².
Interestingly, eight other streets in Charleroi are also part of Belgium's bottom ten: from the Place Reine Astrid (€1,261/m²) in second-cheapest to Rue François Castermont (€1,289/m²) in ninth place.
The tenth cheapest street in the country, however, is not in Charleroi but in Mons; the price on its Rue Sablonnière is an average of €1,329/m².
Immoweb's calculations are based on the asking price of the listings on its platform, for houses as well as flats. These prices do not necessarily correspond to the final sale prices.
