The explosion of real estate prices around the country
LUXEMBOURG - Arlon, Messancy, Villerupt... Real estate prices in Luxembourg continue to leapfrog those in border areas.
The numbers are clear. According to the Federation of Notaries in Belgium, the median price of a house in the Province of Luxembourg has increased by 7.4% in one year and by 25.1% in five years! In other words, half of the deals were concluded at a lower price and the other half were concluded at a higher price. The most expensive crops are close to the Grand Duchy or to the freeway. In order Attert, Arlon, Messancy, Etalle and Saint-Léger. In Attert, the median price reached 420,000 euros last year, compared to 219,000 for the Province. Never before seen!
A phenomenon related to border workers, but not only. The Grand-Ducaux come to buy in the neighboring communes and push the prices up”, notes Me Georges Lochet, for the company of notaries of the Province. As a result, Belgian households with average incomes must move away to find affordable prices.
150,000 euros for the townhouse in Audun
On the French side, prices have also jumped, notes Ricardo Pacheco, member of the real estate observatory of the interdepartmental chamber of notaries (Meuse, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Vosges). An increase of 10% in one year in the border area against 7% to 9% elsewhere, and which even reached 20% for certain sectors.” A townhouse that sold for 70,000 euros in Villerupt or Audun-le-Tiche in 2015/2016 leaves at 150,000 euros without a problem,” continues the notary.” It is no longer rare that there are offers at the price in the week and that the financing conditions make the difference between the offers”, insists Me Pacheco.
In the Longwy basin, according to figures from Notaires de France, the median price of an old house of about 100 m ² rose between 2014/2015 and 2020/2021 from 145,000 and 171,900 euros. For an old apartment of about 60 m ² the price went up from 62 800 to 98 100 euros.
Luxembourgers who leave the country
The Covid crisis has worsened the situation, according to Olivier Laurent, a lawyer in Cattenom. Many people have lived badly with the confinement and have moved to better housing. With the relatively low rates, that made the prices go up “, he assays. Without talking about a wave, he notes that the “phenomenon” of residents of the Grand Duchy who cross the border is increasing. Specialized real estate agencies now work on both sides of the border.
But the other striking fact is the shortage of building land. Undeveloped land is being sold at the price of developed land,” says Pacheco. While Me Laurent cites a recent example of “70 offers for seven building lots”.
In the German border area, the price increase has been less pronounced in recent months, according to Ingo Ludwig, a lawyer in Merzig, Saarland.
But the price increase has been clear since 2005 on a 20 km strip from the border”. A house sold for 250,000 euros in 2005 now costs 400,000 to 500,000 euros,” says the notary, who points out that “a 300,000 or 400,000 euro house in our region is worth a million in Luxembourg”.The effect of Luxembourgers moving in is even more pronounced. In the area near the border, almost 50% of the sales are of Luxembourgers, estimates Ingo Ludwig.
