The growth recorded in the first half of 2025 continued in the second half of that year. The reduction in registration duties in certain parts of the country certainly played a role in this positive trend.

The second half of 2025 was marked by an increase of approximately 19.6% in value compared to the same period in 2024, excluding refinancing.

The reduction of registration duties in January 2025 particularly stimulated home purchases in Wallonia, leading to a production in the second half of 2025 of nearly €20.5 billion and almost 107,000 mortgage loans.

Interest rates continue to play a major role in the development of production. Based on figures from the National Bank of Belgium, these rates in November 2025 fluctuated between 3.28% (for loans with an initial fixed-rate period of more than 10 years) and 4.20% (for loans with an initial fixed-rate period of up to 1 year).

A comparison of the fourth quarter of 2025 with the fourth quarter of the previous year yields the following results:

The number of loan applications, excluding external refinancings, fell by about 5.5% in Q4 2025 compared with the same quarter of 2024. The corresponding amount decreased by almost 2% in the last quarter of 2025.

This is the result of the reduction in registration duties to 3% in Wallonia, announced at the end of 2024 for the purchase of a primary and sole residence. This announcement boosted applications in the last quarter of 2024. We can therefore regard the last quarter of 2025 as a “normal” quarter for mortgage loans when comparing figures with the same period in previous years.

The number of applications for home purchase (–1,235) fell by 2.6%; for renovation (–2,031) by –15.4%; for new home construction (–543) by –7.5%; and for other purposes (garage, building plot, …) (–761) by –15.1%. The number of external refinancings (–726) decreased by 16.6% in Q4 2025. Purchase + renovation applications were the exception (+271, or +5.4%).

Compared with Q4 2024, there was an increase in Q4 2025 in the number of loans granted (+3.7% in number and nearly +16.5% in value).

The fourth quarter closed positively for the second consecutive year. We thus see seven positive quarters in a row, which inspires confidence in real estate market activity. This positive trend was supported by the reduction in registration duties in Wallonia.

We can conclude that the fiscal framework can have a very significant impact on activity in the real estate market. In 2019, during the reform of the housing bonus in Flanders, a strong increase was also observed.

In Q4 2025, 54,000 new loans were granted for a total of about €10.4 billion—excluding external refinancings.

Compared to 2024, this is, as indicated above, an increase of about 3.7% in the number of loans granted and about 16.5% in the corresponding amount. The comparison with Q4 2024 shows a mixed trend: a decrease in the number of loans for other purposes (–121, or –4%), for home renovation (–1,678, or –15.7%), and for construction (–826, or –14.9%). Conversely, the number of loans concluded for home purchase (+4,280, or +14.7%) and for purchase with renovation (+263, or +7.3%) increased in Q4 2025 versus the same quarter of 2024.

In addition, the number of external refinancings further increased in Q4 2025 (+6%). Slightly more than 2,700 external refinancings were granted for a total amount of just under €420 million.

The average amount of a construction loan rose at end-2025 to about €252,000. This means an increase of approximately €76,000 compared to end-2019 and €54,000 (+27.3%) compared to end-2020.

The average amount of a loan for home purchase increased in 2025 to nearly €217,000—an increase of almost €36,000 (+19.8%) over 5 years.

The average renovation loan amount rose compared to 2024, from about €66,500 at end-2024 to just over €78,000 at end-2025. Nevertheless, over five years this average amount increased by just under €17,000 (+27.7%).

The average loan amount for purchase + renovation also rose significantly in 2025, to about €234,000—an increase of roughly €39,000 over 5 years.

n Q4 2025, more than 8 out of 10 borrowers (86.1%) chose a fixed rate or a variable rate with an initial fixed-rate period of at least 10 years. About 11.7% preferred a variable rate with an initial fixed period between 3 and 10 years. Only 2.2% of borrowers chose a loan with an annually variable interest rate.

Given the high interest rates (see chart below), the Belgian consumer therefore continues to choose security to a very large extent. The share opting for a variable rate remains low, especially for an annually variable rate. Even in the case of a variable rate, the consumer is highly protected by legislation: after adjustment to changes in the applicable reference indices, the variable interest rate can never exceed double the initial interest rate.

The credit sector is and remains aware that mortgage lending must be conducted with great care and that responsible lending must remain the absolute starting point. On this point, the sector is aligned with the supervisor: lenders must exercise the necessary caution to avoid borrowers taking on loans that are too large, while also safeguarding financial stability over time.

All statistics on mortgage credit (2000 – 2025Q1), broken down by loan purpose and type of interest rate, are available here: