In Knokke, an affluent second-home market sometimes referred to as the St. Tropez of the North Sea, properties generally sell close to asking price, with little room for negotiation, said Stefaan Geerebaert, the manager of Immo Brown Knokke Zoute Real Estate Agency.

Mr. Hoorebeke added in an e-mail message, “As the financial markets are not good, a lot of people prefer to invest in stones. And a second home at the coast is the best investment.”

Forty-five luxury villas and mansions and 90 apartments are on the market, with the most luxurious sequestered down tree-lined lanes and near pristine gardens in the Zoute, which is home to a 36-hole (inner and outer) golf course, a tennis club with 29 clay courts and a coastal nature preserve and bird sanctuary bordering Holland.

Prices in Knokke range from 295,000 euros ($384,385), for a two-bedroom attached fixer-upper in the Old City, to more than 8 million euros ($10.4 million) for a villa in the Zoute. Studios with North Sea views begin at 245,000 euros; a three-bedroom three-bath duplex overlooking the dunes was listed for nearly 6 million euros.

Bron: The New York Times