This isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, nor is this phenomenon exclusive to the Netherlands — but the Dutch housing crisis surely is alive and well. 😱
Dutch housing prices were 20.1% higher this November than just 12 months before that in November 2020, reports Statistics Netherlands.
Biggest increase in two decades 📈
Though Statistics Netherlands only started collecting data in 1995, such an increase in housing prices has not been seen since February 2000. Coincidentally, that month also saw an increase of 20.1% when compared to February 1999.
However, back then, the average transaction price was just 160,000 euros. This November, the average price climbed up to 400,000 euros — ouch! 🤕
Can this be fixed?
There are a number of factors driving the housing crisis, such as failures in dealing with predatory property investors — especially in the Randstad, a shortage of construction workers, tighter lending regulations, population growth, and low mortgage interest rates.
While the supply of houses for sale continues to shrink considerably, effective policy and vast construction projects are in dire need.
Sure, Rutte IV has pledged to construct hundreds of thousands of homes in the upcoming years. But as this brilliant campaign put it — je bent te laat (you’re too late). As the Minister for Interior and Kingdom Relations, Kasja Ollongren, reported in June 2020, 845,000 homes need to be built by 2030 in order to curb the great Dutch housing crisis.
What has your experience of the Dutch housing market been? Let us know in the comments below!
Feature Image: myronstandret/Depositphotos
