A tornado has damaged properties in Geetbets
The tornado that swept across the area on Thursday evening also damaged houses in the Walloon Brabant municipality of Beauvechain
several families have had to seek alternative accomodation
After the tornado had first caused damage a few kilometres south in Beauvechain
it was the turn of Zoutleeuw and Geetbets to bear the brunt
At around 6.30pm swept over the Bungeveld social housing estate in the village of Budingen
Major damage was caused to the homes there and the roofs of several houses were torn off
The emergency services and council workers carried out an initial clean-up operation
Residents whose home have been made uninhabitable were given shelter in a local community centre
While most of those unable to return to their homes were able to find shelter with family or friends
a family of 7 has been given temporary accommodation at a hotel in the nearby Limburg town of Sint-Truiden
in Geetbets around a dozen homes in several streets were damaged by the tornado
Several bags containing what appeared to be white pills caused something of a stir in Budingen
The Mayor of Zoutleeuw called on locals to be vigilant
it has since transpired that the content of the bags was nothing more sinister than used cat litter
An alert hiker spotted several bags containing what appeared to be white pills or poison alongside the bicycle path between the Hekstraat and the Spiegelstraat in Budingen
They contacted the police and the mayor of Zoutleeuw of which Budingen is a part
Mayor Guy Dumst (Christian democrat) told VRT News that "We always take calls from citizens very seriously so we went straight away to collect the bags”
"We examined the content and it isn’t poison
The police found a total of ten of the bags
"We are happy that it wasn’t poison as this would have been problematic if people had gone there walking their dog
We are now going to carry out extra checks to find out who had dumped the bags there”
It is probably easier to though it away in a verge rather than in the bin
According to figures from the latest Notary Barometer
the price of real estate in Flanders continues to rise
the general economic climate and a rise in mortgage interest rates has meant that during the past year far fewer houses and flats were sold in our region
Notary Bart Van Opstal says that “the rush on real estate that began post-corona has reached its end.”
At 16.9% the fall in the number of real estate transactions was most pronounced in Flanders
in Brussels and Wallonia the number of real estate transactions was down 12%
Last year the number of houses and flats sold in West Flanders fell by 18.4%
The fall in the number of real estate transactions was 17.5% in East Flanders
16.6% in Antwerp Province and 16.8% in Limburg
Flemish Brabant saw the smallest fall in the number of houses and flats sold
There the number of real estate transactions in 2023 was down 14.6% on the figures for 2022
House prices up in all 5 Flemish provinces
The average price of a house rose in all 5 Flemish provinces in 2023
Leuven is the most expensive provincial capital for those wishing to buy a house
Flemish Brabant (of which Leuven is the capital) is also the most expensive province
Last year the average price of a house in Flemish Brabant was 420,129 euro
The cheapest houses are to be found in the east of the province
The highest average house prices are to be found in Overijse
In 2023 Hasselt was the provincial capital with the lowest average house price
average house prices in Limburg as a whole rose by 3.9%
In 2023 a house in Limburg province cost an average of 307.935 euro
Heers en Dilsen-Stokkem are the Limburg municipalities with the lowest average house prices
The most espensive houses are to be found in Diepenbeek
Last year the average price of a house in East Flanders was 342,717 euro
The cheapest houses are to be found in  Ronse
Eeklo and Lierde The most expnsive East Flemish municipalities when it comes to houses are Nazareth
House prices in West Flanders rose by an average of 2.2% in 2023
On average a house in west Flanders costs 322,070 euro
Izegem and Staden are the cheapest municipalities when it comes to house prices
Koksijde and Knokke-Heist are the most expensive
In Antwerp Province the average price of a house rose by 1.8% in 2023
A house in Antwerp Province costs an average of 384,921 euro Niel
Turnhout and Mol are the cheapest places in the province when it comes to house prices
Hove and Schilde are the most expensive places in the province for those wishing to buy a house
Flat prices up everywhere except Flemish Brabant
Ghent is the most expensive provincial capital for those wishing to buy a flat
In Ghent a flat costs an average of 310,624 euro
This is more or less (-0.1%) the same as it was a year ago
In East Flanders as a whole the average price of a flat rose by 3.8% to 278,218 euro last year
At 4.9% Limburg is the province that has seen the sharpest rise in average flat prices
In 2023 buyers paid an average of 245,922 euro for a flat in Limburg province
Hasselt is the cheapest provincial capital for flat buyers
In West Flanders a flat costs an average of 296,989 euro
The cheapest flats are to be found in Kuurne
Oostkamp and Knokke-Heist are the municipalities with the highest average prices for a flat
In Antwerp Province average flat prices rose by 3% last year to 265.596 euro
Retie and Borsbeek are the municipalities with the lowest average prices
Brecht and Hove are the places where the average price of a flat is highest
The only province in Flanders where average flat prices fell in 2023 is Flemish Brabant
The average price of a flat in the province fell by 1% to 284,885
Striking is the 6.8% fall in the average price of a flat in the provincial capital Leuven