Ready and raring to finally buy your own home? It may be the perfect time for that, with housing market prices currently falling and less overbidding.
According to RTL Nieuws, the average selling prices for Dutch houses are lower than asking prices for the first time in four years. You can take your pick of terraced houses, apartments, corner houses, detached houses, and semi-detached houses, as they are all selling for less.
More houses for less
Figures from the largest association of real estate agents and appraisers in the Netherlands, NVM, show that house prices fell by a groot 8.2% compared to 2022’s first quarter.
Don’t stress about not being able to find your perfect home, as there are also even more houses available to choose from.
READ MORE | 7 ways buying a house in the Netherlands could save you money (wait what?)
In fact, there are almost double the amount of houses for sale this year compared to last year, with 31,000 homes for sale at the beginning of 2023 versus 16,500 in 2022. Looks like you’ll have the upper hand this time!
Wonder what house prices are like? The average price of a house is now €394,000. That might seem like a lot, but it’s a far better rate than you would have got with the expected 20% increase in house prices that was predicted last year.
Mortgage interest rates increase
If you’re all set to head out to that house viewing, you may need to gently nudge the brakes.
Whilst house prices may have decreased, the amount you can borrow from the bank has also gone down. You can thank increased mortgage interest for that. Niet leuk!
Netherlands: House prices are dropping slowly as interest rates stay high, building project are cancelled because not a single ‘normal’ human being is able to afford these new houses. All while there is actually a shortage of +- 300,000 houses (and rising)
— Vincenze (@vinnie_84) April 11, 2023
This is likely to hit sole earners the hardest. “Due to the interest rate increase, I can get a mortgage of €10,000 to €15,000 less,” Mirthe Kok, a 26-year-old sole earner, tells RTL Nieuws.
House prices depend on region
House prices have fallen more steeply in some regions than others. Prices in North Brabant fell by 2.9% while those in North Limburg fell by more than 10%.
There are also fewer home buyers in certain regions, with an increase in the popularity of homeownership outside of the Randstad.
A spokesman for NVM explains that this might be due to the rise in people working from home thanks to Covid-19, which means you don’t necessarily have to live in or near a big city.
What do you think of the decreasing house prices? Tell us in the comments!