Are you curious to know how your financial choices can make a real contribution to the fight against climate change? Would you like to find out about the innovative initiatives that have been put in place in Luxembourg to promote sustainable finance? In this interview, Laetitia Hamon, Head of Sustainable Finance at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, shares her ideas and experiences on these crucial topics. Read this interview to find out how you can make the difference and be an agent of change towards a more sustainable future.
The Luxembourg Real Estate Market: rental investment
Spuerkeess is market leader for residential real estate loans in Luxembourg. We spoke with Michel Zimer, Vice President of Credit Process Management, and asked him to give us an overview of the latest developments in the real estate market.
Nevertheless, a recent report by the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) [4] analysed the evolution of real estate markets in different EU countries and noticed high prices and a considerable indebtedness trend in Grand Duchy households. Following this report, draft law no. 7218 [5] was recently adopted to allow the national regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), to impose caps on the attribution of new loans.
This refers to borrower-based measures which, among others, impact the minimum investment of personal funds as well as maximum redemption: i.e. the ratio between expenses and monthly income.
Three main factors could limit this increase. A sudden rise in interest rates, a substantial fall in positive net migration or a massive increase in housing supply would have an impact on prices. We do not anticipate such changes at present, however. Of the three factors mentioned above, we believe that only an increase in supply could have a beneficial effect for the resident population.
The Observatoire de l’Habitat estimated that there was approximately 2.719 hectares of undeveloped land stock in 2013 [6]. According to the General Development Plan (PAG), more than three-quarters (75,6%) of total available space for housing in municipalities belongs to individuals (natural persons) and 16,4% to legal entities, with public bodies only owning 8% of the surface area.
[1] http://www.bcl.lu/fr/media_actualites/communiques/2018/02/WP117/index.html
[2] https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2018/04/03/Luxembourg-2018-Article-IV-Consultation-Press-Release-Staff-Report-and-Statement-by-the-45781
IMF Country Report 18/97 on Luxembourg, p. 22: "Our model suggests that real house prices are broadly in line with fundamentals"
[3] http://www.oecd.org/economy/luxembourg-economic-snapshot/
[4] ESRB Novembre 2016: "Vulnerabilities in the EU residential real estate sector", https://www.esrb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/reports/161128_vulnerabilities_eu_residential_real_estate_sector.en.pdf
[5] https://www.legitech.lu/newsroom/actualites/projet-de-loi-7218-02-relative-a-mesures-macroprudentielles-portant-credits-immobiliers-residentiels-avis-de-chambre-de-commerce/
[6] http://observatoire.liser.lu/pdfs/Note20_A4.pdf