Belgians are born with a brick in the stomach, or so the saying goes. The dream of building your own home is one that many pursue, with err... mixed results. But whether starting from scratch or plumping for property that already exists, climbing the property ladder is a pricy business.
Yet if there's one thing that estate agents the world around hammer into prospective buyers, it's "Location, location, location." Latest figures from Belgium's national office for statistics highlight this mantra, showing how much prices can vary across the country.
Unsurprisingly, Brussels is the most expensive region with the trendy (or frankly, rather posh) quartier of Ixelles topping the list with a terraced or semi-detached house selling for a median of €835,000. This won't come as a shock to those who know the city – with its well-kept avenues, swanky restaurants, and proximity to EU institutions, the neighbourhood has become a honey-pot for folks with cash to splash.
Perhaps a little more striking is the gap from the city's most-coveted areas to the least. Molenbeek – an area infamous for terror incidents – is at the bottom of the pile with a median price of €300,000. It's hardly a drop in the ocean but at well over half a million cheaper than Ixelles, and for a location that would in larger cities qualify as "a stone's throw from the city centre", it almost seems a bargain.
Sure, the area lacks the hip café culture cachet, but the drop in value is quite impressive. In other European capitals (I'm looking at you, London) you wouldn't get a proverbial shoebox for this price. And as someone who enjoyed living in the area, it really doesn't deserve the bashing that some politicians go in for.
All the same, with prices showing no sign of depreciating, buying bricks remains a distant dream for many, no matter where it is.
Are you dreaming of your own place? Let @Orlando_tbt know.
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