According to a study by atHomeFinance, the archetypal loan seeker in the housing market is a married couple in their 30s borrowing half a million euros.

If you had to paint the portrait of a typical future homeowner in Luxembourg, it would be a married couple aged between 30 and 39, borrowing an average of €550,000, atHomeFinance has found.

Another characteristic of this archetype is that ballooning house prices (an increase of between 12 and 14% in 2019) is not dissuading them.

Demand remains significantly strong and rates are very low, the broker has found. Here are some interesting figures on the sector:

Make way for couples in their thirties!

The broker noted that record-breaking housing prices in Luxembourg means that the typical profile of an impending homeowner has long since passed the age of 30.

In 2019, half of mortgages offered by brokers were to loan seekers aged between 30 and 39 (51%). The second-most popular group seeking loans were people aged between 40 and 49, representing 23%.

Younger people hoping to get on the real estate ladder, namely between 20 and 29, onyl accounted for 18% of those issued mortgages, likely due to them "not yet having made a real contribution."

A vast majority of future homeowners (72%) were married, in civil partnerships, or common-law couples. In other words, this means mortgage seekers are usually two people combining their incomes.

Singletons represent the remaining 28% of mortgage seekers.

Broken down by citizenship

Mortgage seekers broken down by citizenship show that the top three are: Luxembourgers (19.7%), Portuguese (11.4%), and Italians (5.1%). Nationals of 81 different countries applied for mortgages in 2019.

The broker noted that the majority of profiles (85%) were Luxembourgish residents. Finally, the average income of mortgage seekers was around €6,500 a month.

Tendency towards older buildings

atHomeFinance estimated that the majority of candidates (94%) were seeking to fund their main residence, with many showing a preference for older buildings (64%).

This includes houses that require renovating and those that do not. Newbuilds represented only 28% of mortgages.

Average budgets

The average amount borrowed was €550,000, for projects costing an average of €615,000. The broker reiterated that in October 2019, the average price of an apartment in Luxembourg was €530,000.

A house cost an average of €860,000, as of October 2019.

The majority of cases, 29.9%, concerned mortgages ranging between €400,000 and €599,999. A further 26.1% took out mortgages between €200,000 and €399,999 and 22.4% applied for ones ranging between €600,000 and €799,999.

The contribution brought by the homeowners reached up to €70,000 or 10% of the total cost of projects.