Fewer and fewer Brusselers are snapping up properties in the Vlaamse Rand, the Flemish borderlands surrounding Brussels. Brusselers are more likely to stay put and opt for a property in their own region or find a new home outside the area altogether, according to figures from the latest Notary Barometer.
In 2024, more than 6 out of 10 Brusselers (61.4 per cent), inhabitants of the Brussels region, opted for a new home in their own region when purchasing real estate. This is slightly more than in 2019, when the share was 60.3 per cent. The Vlaamse Rand lost ground: the share of Brusselers who bought a home there fell from 19.3 to 17.1 per cent.
More and more Brusselers are also looking further afield. In 2024, 21.6 per cent of them bought a home outside the Brussels area entirely, compared to 20.5 per cent five years earlier.
The difference between houses and flats remains significant. Homebuyers who buy a flat almost always stay in the Brussels region itself: in 2024, 87.2 per cent of Brusselers opted for a flat in the region. Only 5.4 per cent moved to the Vlaamse Rand and 7.5 per cent to another area altogether.
The situation is different for houses: only a third of Brusselers (33.5 per cent) found a new home in Brussels itself. Almost 30 per cent bought a property outside the Brussels Region, but still close by, and 37 per cent elsewhere in Belgium. The Vlaamse Rand remains the most popular, attracting 19.3 per cent of Brussels home buyers.
‘Brusselers are moving a little further away from the city to buy a house,’ says notary Bart van Opstal. ‘This is not illogical, because houses outside Brussels are often more spacious and affordable.’
Drogenbos attracts many Brusselers
In some municipalities in the Vlaamse Rand, Brussels residents have become the dominant group of buyers. In 2024 in Drogenbos, no fewer than 69.4 per cent of buyers came from the Brussels Region. Brussels homebuyers were also in the majority in Linkebeek (64.4 per cent), Kraainem (56.9 per cent) and Wezembeek-Oppem (52.7 per cent), all Flemish municipalities where French-speakers enjoy special rights as a linguistic minority, the so-called ‘facilities’.
In Walloon Brabant Province, Tubize (35 per cent), Waterloo (34.5 per cent) and Rixensart (32.4 per cent) are the most popular destinations. In Rebecq, the proportion of Brussels residents is lowest (22.3 per cent).
Fewer buyers from the Vlaamse Rand in Brussels
Meanwhile, the proportion of residents from the Rand buying in Brussels fell from 12 to 10.4 per cent. Residents of municipalities with special rights for French-speakers in particular are today more reluctant to move to the capital: their share fell from 28 to 24.6 per cent.
The City of Brussels remains the most popular municipality for buyers from the periphery (14.4 per cent). It is followed by Elsene (10.4 per cent), Anderlecht (9.7 per cent) and Schaarbeek (7.2 per cent). Sint-Joost-ten-Node brings up the rear with 1.5 per cent.