Immo Sylvie Becker

23/03/2025

Beware of Online House Value Simulators in Luxembourg

Dear house owners in Luxembourg, or buyers looking for a good opportunity.
Just be careful, if you are using an online price simulation tool to value your house (or the house you want to purchase).

Those tools might look sexy and easy to handle, they can even work when you want to value an apartment. But please, please avoid them, if you want to know the value of a house. They are often totally wrong.

As a professional who handles between 70 and 90 real estate valuations per year, over the last months I have been alerted about completely stupid price results coming out of those online simulators.

So I tested them out, and came to the conclusion, that their algorithm seems to be based on stats gathered on apartment sale and advertising data. They seem to ignore one important factor, that is the value of land in Luxembourg.

I invite you to go to one of our major real estate portals, and do the test for yourself:

- select a house (yours, the one you want to purchase, or simply want to value), enter all known data, including the size of the plot. Save the result.
- then, do exactly the same procedure, but double the size of the plot.

Compare the results, and you will see, that regardless of the size of the land, the valuation of the house will be the same. This means, that in Luxembourg buildable land has got no value in the pricing of a house.

I actually also tried it on my own house, and if I follow the result of our wellknown real estate portal, I come to following conclusion:

1) my beautiful house in Bridel on 3,80 ares of land is according to the simulator worth 37% MORE than my own estimate (yeaaaah)
2) my beautiful house in Bridel would be worth the same price, if the land were 12 ares (whoooooo)

We have a department in Luxembourg, that handles statistics on real estate (Observatoire de l'Habitat, part of Ministère du Logement). It relies on regular stats gathered by LISER, and actually contains very interesting data, that I regularly use in my reports and valuations.

But please be informed there are NO stats on house prices, house sales, simply because there are no reliable stats on house areas. They exist for apartments, but not for houses. When you rely on all notarial data, you can extrapolate an average price/sqm for an apartment, because that data is contained in the deeds signed in the past. But there are no surfaces/areas mentioned in deeds regarding houses, so how do you want to extrapolate a price/sqm on those?

Therefore, if you want to know the real value of your house, call a professional. It does not have to be a real estate agent, engineering experts can also do the trick.

Stay safe.
Alex Alexandrino
Managing Partner

11/07/2024

So, after 4 years the reform on residential leases is finally taking life.

Not taking in account the new rules for co-sharing lease agreements, the major changes are:
- split of agency commissions between tenants and landlords
- after a first term, the lease agreement automatically changes to indefinite with 3 months notice
- max 2 months deposit instead of 3
- maximum increases of rents of 10%, when applicable

What will this mean in practice?

In my humble opinion this means, in a market where demand outweighs (heavily) the offer, lease agreements will be even tougher on tenants.

For years, as an agent, I tried to educate landlords in being softer on tenants by adapting to their needs. For instance, accepting lease agreements of 1 year (tacitly renewable), to offer tenants flexibility, if they wish to move out earlier. Or accepting so called diplomatic clauses for foreign tenants, allowing them to terminate the lease at any moment, if they need to leave the country.

This is over now: 3-year lease agreements, incompressible(!), will be the norm. If a tenant wants to leave early, he will probably need to pay an indemnity (1/2 commission?) to the landlord.

In the coming weeks, and again, this only works because we are in a market, where up to a rent of 2.000 euros + charges, there are constantly 10 candidates for one apartment, rents will adapt upwards to compensate the agency fee paid by landlords.

I find it natural and fair, that the landlord who asks an agency for assistance in finding a suitable tenant, pays the agency fee (even 100%).

Not sure these new rules will benefit tenants with low budgets.
Those with high budgets have now the possibility to pay more, with the advantages they are getting.

The only way to bring rents to an equilibrium is by increasing strongly offer of properties for rent.

With provisions relating to the reform of the rent ceiling removed, bill 7642 on the reform of residential leases was adopted by Luxembourg’s parliament on Wednesday. Shared accommodation, which has been in great demand in the sector, is now recognised and regulated.

07/04/2024

just a quick update after latest comments I made last year regarding real estate in Lux.

The Luxembourg press is continuing making same mistakes, and writing articles relying on statistics, that are always at least 3 months behind reality.

Reality is, since beginning of this year, buyers have been back to the market, interest rates will probably come lower soon, Luxembourg government is putting incentives in place to boost the construction sector (well, they are waving with a huge flag towards rich investors, hoping they will come back and buy new).

Good deals (properties with prices 20 - 30 pct lower than 2022) are disappering (fast, very fast!) from the market, purchased by returning buyers. If this continues, it will be like in old days, and by second half 2024 prices will go up again.

Anyone wanting to have further details is welcome to call me.

31/01/2024

Nouvelles mesures du gouvernement pour booster l'immobilier au Luxembourg annoncées aujourd'hui

Afin de stimuler le marché du logement à court terme, le Premier ministre, ainsi que le ministre des Finances et du Logement, ont annoncé une série de mesures ce mercredi.

13/01/2024

Le gouvernement, qui n’organisera une table ronde avec les acteurs immobiliers qu‘en février, est en train de jouer avec le feu. Car avec une accalmie des taux d‘intérêt en Europe, il y a un regain d‘intérêt sur le marché de l‘immobilier. Mais depuis 2 ans tous les nouveaux projets d‘envergure ont été mis en hibernation.

Avec la perte de main d‘oeuvre qualifiée, il sera encore plus compliqué de remettre ces projets en route. Les prix vont de nouveau défoncer le plafond, faute de biens, et poussés par les investisseurs riches, le peuple „normal“ ne suivra de nouveau plus.

https://www.virgule.lu/luxembourg/stugalux-veut-licencier-30-de-son-personnel/

13/01/2024

Listened now closely to SNHBM director Guy Entringer‘s interview on RTL Letzebuerg (12.01.24), about the real estate situation in Luxembourg, and the future of affordable accommodation.

1 point struck me: on one hand, he explains SNHBM cannot lower prices on their existing houses/flats due to higher construction costs, and as an SA (soc anonyme), they are bound to show profit at the end of the year. On the other hand he accuses private sector of doing the same on VEFA projects. Hello?

Full interview here

RTL.lu: Invité vun der Redaktioun (12. Januar) - Guy Entringer vun der SNHBM: Méi dicht ze bauen, géif och méi bëlleg ginn
E Freideg de Moien war de Logement Thema an der Emissioun "Invité vun der Redaktioun". https://www.rtl.lu/radio/invite-vun-der-redaktioun/a/2156383.html

E Freideg de Moien war de Logement Thema an der Emissioun "Invité vun der Redaktioun".

07/01/2024

Perspectives de l‘immobilier au Luxembourg en 2024

Webinar organisé fin 2023 par athome en présence de CBRE, STATEC, BPI Real Estate , EY et athome Finance

Quelles sont les perspectives pour le marché immobilier luxembourgeois en 2024 ? Découvrez l'avis de nos 5 experts à l'occasion de cet AfterWork Immo spécial...

08/12/2023

À VENDRE, Goetzingen
Coup de coeur garanti : Maison 5 chambres sur un beau terrain de 9,40a orienté ouest
➔ https://urlz.fr/oLkM

05/12/2023

À VENDRE, Luxembourg-Neudorf
Propriété rare : maison de 7 chambres avec une annexe de 130m2, terrasse et jardin
➔ https://urlz.fr/oLjt

27/06/2023

Ce que les gens oublient c’est que ces stats concernent le 1er trimestre 2023. Le deuxième est encore PIRE.

Mais nous voyons la sortie du tunnel dans la deuxième moitié de l’année avec une stabilisation des taux d’intérêts, un retour fragile des acquéreurs qui sont en train de reprendre leurs marques auprès des banques en redemandant les nouvelles conditions de prêts.

Les gros investisseurs, eux, ne vont pas bouger avant 2024, ou avant que le gouvernement ne leur donne un coup de pouce (Tva 3%, reduction fiscale sur intérêts débiteurs, etc).

Une reprise par une plus forte offre de biens n’arrivera pas, sauf si nos expats commencent à quitter le Luxembourg.

L’Observatoire de l’habitat enregistre la première baisse des prix de vente des logements en douze mois depuis 2009. Ils ont diminué de 1,5% au premier semestre 2023 par rapport à la même période en 2022. Les transactions chutent également, alors que les prix des loyers explosent.

27/01/2023

An article that perfectly describes the Luxembourg real estate situation for the last year. Scary!

L’Ecofin Club accueillait ce jeudi 26 janvier le business developer d’Immobel, Xavier Hauboldt, au Cercle Munster. L’occasion de comprendre la vision du marché de l’immobilier que semblaient partager tous les promoteurs dans la salle. Et ça «pique»…