House price index

Third Quarter 2017

• The observed annual inflation rate for house price amounts to 3.9% in the third quarter of 2017 compared to 3.4% in the previous quarter.[1]
• The average inflation rate for the last four quarters amounts to 3.8%.
• The house price index went up by 3.0% in the third quarter of 2017 compared to the previous quarter.

Each quarter Statistics Belgium calculates a house price index according to European regulations (see page 5 for detailed information on the methodology).

The annual inflation rate amounts to 3.9% in the third quarter of 2017 compared to 3.4% in the previous quarter. The average inflation rate for the last four quarters amounts to 3.8%. The house price index amounted to 108.41 points (2015=100) compared to 105.25 points in the previous quarter. The Belgian house price index went up by 3.0% in the second quarter of 2017 compared to the previous quarter.

The European Union Member States calculate the house price index according to a harmonised methodology which makes it possible to compare the evolution of house prices across the different Member States. The house price index measures the price evolution of private real estate. The index follows price changes of new or existing residential real estate purchased by households, irrespective of their purpose (letting or owner-occupying). The house price index measures the price evolution with the assumption that the characteristics of the property sold remain unchanged.

The index thus measures the actual price evolution without interference of qualitative changes. If the size of the property sold increases, the average price of houses sold will also increase, which does not necessarily mean that the house price index will have increased. Therefore, this index does not measure the evolution of the average sales price of real estate. More information on the applied method can be found on page 5 of this press release.

The house price index is based on real estate transaction data from the General Administration of the Patrimonial Documentation of the FPS Finances. The results for the latest quarters are considered provisional and may be reviewed during the following quarter when additional data become available.

The house price index can be broken down by new houses and existing houses. In the third quarter of 2017, annual inflation amounted to 4.9% for new houses and 3.6% for existing houses. The weights of those two items in the overall index amount to 24.2% and 75.8% respectively for the year 2017.

Comparison between Belgium and the neighbouring countries

Since Eurostat will only publish the neighbouring countries' house price index for the third quarter of 2017 on 18 January 2018, the second quarter is the most recent quarter to use as a basis for comparison. In Belgium, inflation stood at 3.4% in the second quarter of 2017 compared to 5.5% in the previous quarter. The Netherlands experienced an inflation rate of 7.3% in the second quarter, an increase compared to the 6.1% inflation rate in the first quarter. France experienced an inflation rate of 3.5% in the second quarter, an increase compared to the 2.7% inflation rate registered in the first quarter. In Germany, inflation stood at 3.7% in the second quarter of 2017 compared to 4.8% in the first quarter of 2017. Inflation for the euro area as a whole remained unchanged in the second quarter of 2017 (3.8%).