Demand in the latest data centres on own-and-sole family homes, whose median rose 15.4% in 2025 far outpacing apartments at 7.2% (source: Notaire.be, February 2026). Well energy-rated homes and affordable, high-yield city stock like Charleroi’s are the other clear magnets.
The figures point to three kinds of property drawing the strongest interest, and each traces back to a specific driver rather than fashion.
First, family houses bought as an own and sole home. Houses rose 15.4% across Wallonia in 2025, more than double the 7.2% for apartments (source: Notaire.be). The gap is not coincidence: the 3% registration-duty reform applies to an own and sole home and disproportionately rewards the family buyer purchasing a house to live in, so demand concentrated there.
Second, energy-efficient homes. A good Energy Performance Certificate (PEB) rating is increasingly a filter, not a footnote. Wallonia caps rent indexation on poorly rated F and G dwellings, which drags on their appeal and price, while well-rated homes hold value and let more easily. The counter-intuitive flip side is that a very poor PEB can turn an otherwise attractive property into a slow seller.
Third, affordable high-yield stock for investors. Charleroi, Wallonia’s cheapest major city at around 1,100 euros/m2 with the region’s top gross rental yield of about 6.1% (source: hexuvium, 2026), is the value play, while Liège draws investors on its Guillemins-led regeneration and 5.2% yield.
Naming the single “most wanted” property would overstate what the data shows, but the pattern is clear: liveable, well-rated houses and income-generating city units lead.
At a glance
- Own-and-sole family houses: +15.4% in 2025, vs apartments +7.2% (source: Notaire.be, Feb 2026).
- Driver: the 3% own-home registration reform favours house buyers.
- Well energy-rated homes: hold value; poor PEB (F/G) lags and faces rent-indexation caps.
- Investor magnet 1: Charleroi, about 1,100 euros/m2, yield about 6.1% (source: hexuvium, 2026).
- Investor magnet 2: Liège, Guillemins regeneration, yield about 5.2%.
- Caveat: no single “most wanted” type; these are the strongest patterns in the data.