The mortgage credit market is a revealing indicator of the health of the economy in Belgium. Indeed, the Belgians still consider that real estate investment is preponderant in the allocation of expenses in their budget. Also, an increase or on the contrary a contraction either in the number of contracts or in the amounts borrowed has a real value in terms of micro-economic analysis on the Belgian markets.
The mortgage market is stable
The number of mortgage credit contracts concluded over the July-September period is slightly lower than in the previous quarter but the overall amount of funds borrowed remained around 5 billion euros.
The latest statistics published by the Professional Credit Union (UPC) show that 46,000 mortgage credit contracts were signed, i.e. 2,000 months compared to the previous quarter. The drop in the number of contracts is almost mainly due to the decrease observed in renovation credits (-1,700).
Over one year, we still note a contraction of 9% in the number of contracts and 8% in terms of amounts borrowed.
The average amount borrowed is stable. For the purchase of a home the average stands at €135,000, which is the status quo compared to the previous quarter.
Note also that 78% of borrowers opted for a fixed rate in the third quarter.
We can therefore conclude that in general, the economy is no longer regressing but is not growing either.
