Despite continuously rising prices in Belgium's busy housing market, the country recorded a 14% increase in sales of houses and apartments last year, according to the Real Estate Barometer of the Federation of Notaries (Fednot).
After several difficult years for real estate in Belgium (a 15% drop in 2023 compared to the year before, which remained stable in 2024), notaries are calling 2025 the "year of revival." Across the country, 14.2% more sales were recorded than the year before.
"Over the past year, we have seen the property market revive in all three regions of the country, as well as in all fiscal quarters of the year," notary Bart van Opstal, spokesperson for Notaris.be, told The Brussels Times.
Young buyers
In Brussels, there were 7.1% more sales last year than in 2024. In Flanders, the increase was even higher, at 14.1%, but the biggest rise was recorded in Wallonia, where 16.7% more sales took place in 2025 than the year before.
This, Van Opstal said, is mainly due to young buyers (those aged between 18 and 30) becoming more active on the apartment market last year. Still, the average age of people who bought property in Belgium last year was 40.
"People have started buying more as a result of the situation on the rental market, which is currently a difficult one: supply is limited and rents are rising significantly," Van Opstal said. "And if they have to pay a high rent anyway, many are deciding that it would be better to buy."
A 'For Sale' sign during a house move in Brussels. Credit: Belga / Laurie Dieffembacq
The average price of a house in Belgium stood at €348,800 in 2025 – a 5.8% increase compared to 2024. For flats, the increase was limited to 2.4%, ending at an average of €277,927.
In Brussels, the price for a house rose to €582,930 (+2.2%). For Flanders, the average price rose by 3.6% to €380,655. In Wallonia, the increase was much more pronounced at 13.4%, to an average price of €270,790.
"You also see that investors have become a bit more active again; when rents go up and there is no risk of vacancy in the rental market, you naturally attract investors," Van Opstal said. "All the more so because those investors will have made a lot of stock market profits in 2025."
Safe haven
Additionally, he cites the current geopolitical context and international uncertainty in Ukraine, Gaza and South America as a reason for people to want more certainty and to own their own house. "This uncertainty also stimulates investment in property, because that is always considered a safe haven – especially in Belgium," he said.
Counterintuitively, he believes that the rising prices may also be one of the reasons for the increase in sales.
"During that cooling-off period, many people waited for one or two years to see if the prices would fall, but that did not happen. So now that the prices have started going up again, they are buying quickly before the prices rise even more."
The figures published by Fednot are based on all property transactions concluded in Belgium. The data is collected electronically at the time of signing the sales agreement and is supplemented with data from the deed. This provides the network of 1,098 notary offices with the most recent and complete data on the Belgian property market.
