Licheron described the 16.7% price increase, which the country's real-estate market experienced over the course of a year, as an anomaly. The economist therefore expressed his hopes that the evolution will stabilise in the near future and drop back to a range of 2 to 4% per year.
Licheron believes that the risk of a real-estate bubble is less significant in the Grand Duchy than it is abroad. While other countries produced too many housing opportunities, Luxembourg is still struggling to meet the demands of its ever-growing demographic. Further problems occur when people either speculate or block new construction projects in their own proximities.
Interview: Increase in house prices likely to continue, according to expert
Any measures that can help support the creation of additional housing opportunities should be considered, Licheron further argued. One option is the taxation of empty apartments and unused building land. However, the economist also believes that incentivising methods should be prioritised over penalising ones.
When it comes to the proposal of opening up the building perimeter, which CVS put forward, Licherion expressed caution, as he thinks that the measure only makes sense for large-scale constructions.
