Market Trends of Belgium Luxury Residential Real Estate Industry
IoT-enabled home automation is driving the market
Smart home technology is becoming more and more popular. Even luxury homes are starting to adopt smart home technology. Smart home technology allows homeowners to control and monitor their homes remotely. Smart home technology improves both security and ease of use for homeowners. Luxury developers are starting to incorporate innovative home technology into their properties. Innovative home technology includes voice-activated controls. Automated lighting and temperature control are just a few of the innovative features that luxury developers are incorporating into their properties. The inclusion of smart home technology enhances the overall luxury experience. Innovative home technology has become a major selling point for buyers who want the latest technological advancements.
In third place, Belgium ranks highly in terms of smart alarm usage (17.24%). Greece is in fourth place, followed by Ireland. It is estimated that one in three households worldwide will have some form of "smart home" technology by 2027, which is a significant increase from the current number. Recent research has revealed that Belgium is a global leader in the adoption of smart home technology.
Rise In Disposable Income is driving the luxury residential real estate market
Luxury housing is booming like never before in Belgium, driven by rising disposable incomes and rising aspirations. The increasing disposable income of the Belgian households continued in 2020-21 and only slightly decreased in 2022, amid rising inflation. The positive overall picture does not change the fact that there were more and more signs in 2022 that the Belgian housing market was becoming more dynamic. According to the Belgian real estate agency Het Lappe Nieuws, in 2021 there were 1,247 properties for sale with a value of EUR 1 million (USD 1.09 million) or more, which was almost 50% higher than the previous year's total of 446 properties for sale.
In Flanders, the highest number of transactions was 1,222. In the Brussels Region, 302 properties were sold. In Wallonia, 169 properties were sold. The municipality of Knokke (Heist), renowned for its beachfront properties, leads the Belgian municipalities in terms of sales with 288 properties. The luxury property market in 2021 reached a turnover of EUR 2.2 billion (uDF) (USD 2.39 billion). According to Bart Van Delm, one of the top real estate agents in the upper segment, the boom is due to low bank interest rates, low mortgage loans, high inflation, the introduction of more luxury properties, and the popularity of new constructions.
