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Peter Reusens

  • De Belgische woningmarkt: trends en recent verloop

    Wednesday 22/3/2023
    Peter Reusens

    After several years of strongly rising prices, the Belgian housing market cooled in 2022. The indicators for the second half of the year pointed to a decline in the number of transactions and zero growth in house prices. That being said, a sharp decline in house prices currently appears unlikely. This is because the negative impact of higher interest rates is being offset by an array of factors, including the longer terms of new mortgage loans, higher down payments, rising nominal incomes, falling energy prices and a slowdown in housing supply growth. Finally, the repayment burden for new mortgage loans has risen strongly in recent years but declined markedly for existing fixed-rate mortgages thanks to strong income growth.

  • De energie-efficiëntie van de Belgische woningen en haar impact op de woningprijzen

    Friday 1/7/2022
    Peter Reusens

    The price difference between energy-efficient and energy-inefficient houses has increased over the past decade. And it may even become bigger due to the high energy and construction prices and the future renovation obligations. Although the energy efficiency of the sold homes has improved over the past ten years, it will have to improve a lot more in order to meet the climate targets by 2050. However, there are several supply and demand side impediments and all actors involved – households, government, financial sector and construction sector – have an important role to play in overcoming them. Finally, it is important to take into account the improving energy efficiency when drawing up house price indices.

     

    Het prijsverschil tussen energiezuinige en energieverslindende huizen is het voorbije decennium toegenomen. De hoge energie- en bouwprijzen en de toekomstige renovatieverplichtingen kunnen er bovendien voor zorgen dat dat nog groter wordt. Hoewel de energie-efficiëntie van de verkochte woningen het voorbije decennium is verbeterd, zal deze nog aanzienlijk verder moeten toenemen om de klimaatdoelstellingen tegen 2050 te halen. Hierbij zijn er verschillende drempels aan zowel de aanbod- als de vraagzijde en hebben alle betrokken actoren – gezinnen, overheid, financiële sector en bouwsector – een belangrijke rol om deze te overwinnen. Tot slot is het belangrijk om de verbeterende energie‑efficiëntie in rekening te brengen bij het opstellen van woningprijsindices.

  • The slow recovery of Belgian firms stalled and the second lockdown of November 2020 makes the prospects even more bleak

    Thursday 5/11/2020
    Peter Reusens / Geoffrey Minne
    Peter Reusens, Geoffrey Minne

    Seven months after it was launched, the ERMG survey continues to take the pulse of the Belgian companies by measuring the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on their economic activity and their financial health. After a partial rebound between May and August, the Belgian companies’ (self-reported) turnover stalled in September and October at -14 % below normal levels. Moving forward, the COVID-19 crisis will most likely leave scars on the economy as expectations about next year’s revenue, investment plans, employment and risk of bankruptcy remain gloomy. In addition, the recent further worsening of the health situation and the new restrictive measures including the second lockdown of November 2020 are not yet reflected in the latest survey dating from October 20. These recent developments will undoubtedly worsen the already bleak economic outlook. Finally, the crisis will also have a lasting impact on the way employees will work: with wider use of telework, more flexible working hours and less business travel.

  • Prendre le pouls des entreprises pour évaluer la santé économique de la Belgique

    Wednesday 6/5/2020
    Geoffrey Minne / Peter Reusens
    Geoffrey Minne, Peter Reusens

    The current health crisis and subsequent lockdown measures have provoked a sizable shock for Belgian private companies. A new weekly survey targeting Belgian private companies was launched for the Economic Risk Management Group (ERMG) to gauge the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the Belgian economy. After conducting four waves of the survey, we estimate the average turnover reduction for the entire economy at 33% compared to the pre-crisis situation. The bars, hotels and restaurants industry and the arts, entertainment and leisure industry report a much larger negative impact and one out of five respondents active in these sectors says bankruptcy is probable or highly probable.