Buying an apartment in Luxembourg, but at what price?
21 ottobre 2016
On October 6th, the Housing Observatory posted the latest figures on housing prices in Luxembourg for the second quarter of 2016.
How much is an apartment?
Rates change depending on whether we are talking about old or new apartments, and depending on their location in the north or south of the country. Here are the recorded averages.
Currently, the average price per square meter decreased by 2.1% compared to the first quarter of 2016. However, we still note an increase of 4.5% compared to the second quarter of 2015. As such, it takes €4,636/m² to purchase an old apartment.
For new apartments, the average price per square meter has increased by 3.5% compared to the first quarter of 2016, and by 7.9% compared to the second quarter of 2015. It takes €5,859/m² to purchase an apartment under construction.
How big is the living space?
In one year, the average selling price of existing apartments rose for all segments of living area: by 3.4% for apartments between 70 and 90m² to 5.5% for apartments between 110 and 130m². The biggest difference is recorded in small apartments. Indeed, there is a 15.7% rise in the average price of apartments with a living space of less than 50m². These small areas nonetheless still make up 10% of the total transactions conducted in the second quarter.
For new apartments, the conclusion is the same. In one year, everything has become more expensive, but to a lesser extent for apartments between 50 and 70m² (+1.3%). It reached 5.8% for apartments larger than 130m². However, as for old apartments, it is those apartments with a living space of less than 50m² which display the largest increase, with a 13.1% rise in the sale price in one year. They nonetheless still make up 18% of total transactions conducted in the second quarter.
Buyer behavior
Given the continuously increasing rates, buyer behavior is changing
Today, on average, existing apartments for sale have an area of 81m² for a budget of approximately €371,500. In one year, this represents -1.9% of living space for +3.2% of budget.
With regard to construction, on average, the area of a new apartment is 78m² for a price of €452,000. In one year, this represents -9.2% of living space to compensate for the rising price per square meter. As such, the average price to purchase is down 3.3%.
In Luxembourg, new buyers thus seem to build or buy smaller in order to keep control over their budgets. However, in the second half of 2016, these trends may be different due to rates of home loan that allow for more expensive purchases with the same monthly instalment. Ask our partner ING for a financing simulation.
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