Figures
Belgium Retail MarketView H2 2024
Limited development pipeline undermines an otherwise resilient retail market
February 11, 2025 6 Minute Read
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Demand
Retail take-up in the second half of 2024 reached 234,164 m² of new letting and sales deals. This brings the total for the year to 431,080 m², which is slightly lower than the 2023 total. Looking at the deal count per retail type, we saw a decrease in high street and shopping center deals (413 and 140 respectively), but a considerable increase in out of town transactions (288).
In terms of sectoral take-up, gifts & accessories (8,600 m²) retail and specialised retail (80,700 m²) were the clear winners this year, both with drastically higher take-up compared to their 2023 levels. Although home & household retail performed well in the first half of the year, this now stagnated (81,000 m²). Fashion and the sports & leisure segments underperformed this year noting a 10 to 20% lower take-up compared to one year prior.
Rents
Rents in the high street retail sector have seen downward corrections in the past years mainly as a consequence of the pandemic and ecommerce competition. However, the past two years, they have kept relatively stable. High street retail rent is currently at 1,650 €/m²/year in Brussels for the Rue Neuve and €1,650/m² in Antwerp for the Meir for a typical unit size of 200 m².
For shopping centers, the prime rent remained stable at €1,200/m²/year after increasing over the last twelve months. Prime out-of-town retail parks are currently at 185 €/m²/year for an averaged size space of 1,000 m². Smaller retail units can be more expensive.
Vacancy
The downward vacancy trend continued in many city high streets in 2024. Walloon cities are on average battling higher vacancies, however. Overall, good demand from diverse retailers, limited development and a conversion of vacant space to alternative uses such as offices and housing helped put downward pressure on vacancy for all types of retail in Belgium in the recent years.
Investment
Investment in retail real estate in H2 2024 was similar to the former semester with just over € 206 million worth of transactions. This has brought the total retail investment volume for the year to € 448 million, which is lower compared to the previous two years.
Investment yields
Prime yields remained stable throughout 2024. Estimated yields for prime high street retail are still at 4.75%, while prime shopping centers could change hands at 6.00%. Though, market evidence for shopping centre pricing is scarce.
Retail parks remain popular among investors, with some interesting files being commercialised in 2024. This retail segment has shown more resilience to recent repricing. Today, the prime yield for retail parks is estimated at 5.75%.
Contact
Kim Verdonck
Executive Director – Head of Research, Marketing & IT Development
