Our team of local Research experts give you the lowdown on all the latest Belgian commercial real estate market trends and outlook.
Cushman & Wakefield’s MarketBeat series leverages compelling in-house datasets and market-leading knowledge to provide all the latest coverage and analysis of activity across Belgium’s office, retail and industrial real estate sectors. Every quarter our MarketBeat reports dissect the occupier and investment markets, delivering insight into supply, demand and pricing trends at market and submarket levels.
ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
Given the global economic condition, Belgium’s economy is in for a slow ride for 2023 and early 2024. A range of factors, including high core prices, tighter borrowing conditions, still-low consumer sentiment, and business competitiveness weigh and will continue to weigh on growth.
Brussels Office
OCCUPIER FOCUS
In the third quarter of 2023, the Brussels’ office market saw 66 transactions, resulting in a take-up of 57,604 sq m.
INVESTMENT FOCUS
Due to persistently high inflation and increasing interest rates, the ”cost-of-money” is on the upswing, causing a shift in the underlying dynamics of the commercial real estate market.
OUTLOOK
After the ECB's latest interest rate hike in September, marking one in a series of increases, the correction in CRE, which started in mid-2022, persists.
DOWNLOADRegional Office
OCCUPIER FOCUS
Following a relatively subdued first half of the year in terms of demand, the Flemish occupier market continued in a similar vein with a lacklustre performance in the third quarter. Take-up amounted to just over 40,000 sq m in Q3, bringing the year-to-date total to 134,000 sq m.
INVESTMENT FOCUS
Amid challenging conditions, the investment market maintained its activity levels throughout the summer.
OUTLOOK
After the ECB's latest interest rate hike in September, marking one in a series of increases, the correction in CRE, which started in mid-2022, persists.
Retail
LETTING MARKET
In Q3 2023, letting activity reached 102,000 sq m, the highest quarterly level since the start of the year. However, activity is still subdued in terms of surfaces and compared to the same period last year, retail take-up is 20% lower.
INVESTMENT MARKET
After a strong Q1 where 240 MEUR were invested on the retail investment market, activity is gradually decreasing as this quarter only 50 MEUR were invested in Belgium.
OUTLOOK
After previous increases, prime yields have been kept stable in Q3.
Industrial
INDUSTRIAL FOCUS
The semi-industrial take-up has witnessed its strongest quarter in 2023 so far in terms of take-up.
LOGISTICS FOCUS
The logistic take-up recorded for the third quarter stands at 139,250 sq m, totalling 2023 at 353,900 sq m for 2023 so far.
INVESTMENT FOCUS
The total invested amount for both semi-industrial & logistic transactions accounts to 96 MEUR in the third quarter.
OUTLOOK
Each quarter, the European Central Bank (ECB) has increased its interest rate to reach new records in the last two decades.
