Young Belgians are fuelling a rebound in the property market outside the country’s capital Brussels, where rising housing prices and competition from EU officials and expats have shaped much of the property market.
Buyers under 35 years old accounted for a sharp rise in transactions across Belgium in the first quarter of 2025, spurred by stabilising interest rates, improved borrowing conditions, targeted government incentives, and pressure to act before property values climb further.
In Brussels however, it was not first-time buyers but international residents with tax perks who remained dominant players in the housing market, according to several real estate analysts. Younger buyers settled outside of the capital, where prices are significantly lower, as reported by Belga news agency on April 17.
Real estate agencies have noticed that expats and officials working around the European institutions based in Brussels do not follow this trend. Due to the special low tax regimes that apply to them, different from those of high-tax Belgian residents, they are not driven out of the city. Additionally, their average wages are higher, and their employers often cover housing costs. As a result, the properties they tend to purchase do not qualify for first-time buyer benefits in Belgium.
“That said, eligibility for these benefits can vary depending on individual circumstances, such as property ownership history and residency intentions“, a Brussels based real estate agent specialising in expat housing told Brussels Signal on April 24.
In Brussels, transaction volumes have stagnated and prices continued to climb, the median price moving between €485,000 and €1,100,000 depending on the type of house.
That was against €175,000 in Wallonia and €298,000 in Flanders in 2024, according to a 2024 report by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office. It highlighted that the trend of migration was contributing to growing regional disparities in housing prices.
Across the rest of the country younger buyers were driving momentum in the market.
First-time homeowners have taken advantage of stabilising interest rates and slightly improved borrowing conditions. Lower property prices in Wallonia and some parts of Flanders provided an entry point, while recent government initiatives supporting ownership have played a role in boosting demand among under‑35s.
Expats and institutional investors made city apartment purchases low‑risk assets, especially in central neighbourhoods, while young Belgians have been choosing more affordable areas in Wallonia and Flanders, as Belgian public broadcaster VRT reported.
This shifting geography of demand has had tangible effects: The number of Belgians relocating between regions reached a record high in 2023, with housing costs cited as the main reason.
Several dynamics explained the divergence, expat populations and tax regimes being an important factor.
The capital’s real estate landscape has been heavily influenced by EU staffers and expats, many of whom benefited from a favourable tax status under the revised expat regime passed by the Belgian parliament in January 2024.
Although capped compared to the previous system, the regime still allowed non-Belgian professionals to deduct up to 30 per cent of their salaries from taxable income — a significant advantage over local buyers.
The scheme, which replaced a more generous arrangement scrapped in 2022, was limited to five years but continued to apply to tens of thousands of EU and international workers based in Brussels.
Expats under the regime have been exempt from local communal taxes — which could add several per cent to Belgian residents’ tax bills — further widening the affordability gap.
The broader recovery in the housing market has also been fuelled by expectations of rising prices.
Belgian banks project an average 3 per cent increase in property values this year, reinforcing urgency among younger Belgians to enter the market before affordability deteriorated further, according to a report from Belgian lender ING.
This dynamic has resulted in a different pace of activity between segments of buyers, even as overall demand in Brussels remained robust despite high interest rates.
Efforts to cap rents in Brussels, including a March 2025 ordinance making the reference‑price grid legally binding and allowing tenants to challenge rents more than 20 per cent above reference levels, have begun to curb abusive pricing. Yet they have not so far increased the number of available units, as reported by Belgian media RTBF and La Libre.
In addition, recent tax reforms — including the end of the last remaining fiscal advantage for multi-property owners in April 2025 — were expected to shift rental supply further. Analysts warned that could tighten availability and raise pressure on younger buyers still priced out of the capital.
Besides all of this, the structural and administrative characteristics of the Brussels-Capital Region significantly contributed to its housing challenges.
The fact that Brussels was an enclave entirely surrounded by the Flemish Region limited its capacity for spatial expansion and the development of new housing projects. That has intensified competition for existing properties, driving up prices and exacerbating affordability issues.
Another Statbel report showed that the provinces surrounding Brussels, Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant, part of the Flemish and Walloon regions, were the most expensive in the country.
These attracted not only expats but also residents from Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels itself, all seeking proximity to the capital.
This influx has extended pressure to the housing market in surrounding areas.
Sill, given Belgium’s compact size, more and more people have been settling in provinces slightly further afield, which was also an important factor in the rising number of properties bought by younger people outside the capital.
