The prices of apartments continue to rise in Luxembourg (L'essentiel)

The Observatoire de l’habitat recently informed that residents of the Grand Duchy had to invest another 1.6% more than they had done before in order to buy an apartment. The data that were published by Statec and the Observatoire de l’habitat show a steady increase of the price for apartments that are currently being constructed, an increase that was evident also throughout the third quarter of the year 2013. People buying a brand-new apartment had to spend 2.9% more than would have done if they had bought a similar property in the previous quarter of the year while that same figure stands at +0.8% for already existing properties. If you combine old and new apartments, prices have increased by another 1.6% thereby confirming a process that could be tracked also in the previous months. Year over year prices have moved up by 8.4% for new properties and 5.3% for the “old” ones.  

The price per sq. m. shows a terrific increase especially for new apartments (+6.5%) while that same figure moved up by 0.42% over the last three months for existing properties.

Fewer apartments being sold

By considering the data nationwide, the average price per square foot for an apartment under construction has reached 5,376 €/sq. m. vs. 4,192 € for a property already available on the market. This means that residents of the Grand Duchy spend, on average, 340,204 € for an “old” apartment whose surface stands at 82.63 sq. m. while they pay 414,873 € for a property whose construction is being finalized and spreads over a surface of 79.36 sq. m.

This trend may be explained by having a look at the geographical breakdown of the data and especially by focusing on the Southern-Central region. The average price/sq. m. in Luxembourg City and its immediate surroundings increased by 13.3% and 7.5% for apartments under construction and already available compared to the third quarter of 2012. The Observatoire de l’habitat also notes that the number of apartments sold throughout the third quarter of 2013 has decreased by 7.5% from the previous trimester but still a terrific increase by 12.5% was registered year over year.