Last year saw the highest increase in house prices in the Netherlands since the NVM began recording in 1995. The increase was highest in the north of the country, while Amsterdam recorded the lowest yearly increase.
We all know that the housing market in the Netherlands is a challenge. Currently, the cheapest home you can buy is an apartment, which on average will cost you €344,000 — 20% more than it would have last year. Meanwhile, the price of detached houses has soared by 23.4% in the past year, to an average of €618,000 reports NOS.
High demand and low supply of houses
In the second quarter of last year, RVM brokered more than 34,000 existing houses. Due to the low supply of property, this was 12% less sales than the year before. However, almost a quarter more new-build homes were sold in 2020 than the year before — that amounts to more than 9,000 proud new homeowners.
This year, the outlook for prospective homeowners is more grim. By the middle of the second quarter of 2021, less than 15,500 homes had been listed for sale. This is the lowest number ever measured, and less than half of the number of homes that were sold last year. The supply of new-build homes was also a third lower than last year.
No time to waste
When a house is for sale, buyers need to act quickly — the competition is cut-throat! According to the real estate association, it takes an average of 24 days for a house to be sold. That’s the shortest period ever recorded in the Netherlands.
Sadly, the luxury of choice does not exist in these times either. On average, buyers were only able to choose from two houses.
Lockdown has changed people’s priorities
The last year and a half of lockdown and working from home has helped many people realise that it’s time to escape the rat race. According to the NVM real estate association, people have never valued their living environment and the impact that it has on their quality of life as much as they do now.
As a result, many people have traded in their shoebox apartments in Amsterdam in favour of more spacious homes in rural areas and the fields of the north.
A move to the north
The increase in house prices has been most noticeable in the north of the Netherlands — namely in regions such as East Friesland, the top of Overijssel and Groningen. In these areas, prices have soared by up to 30%.
Amsterdam has seen the lowest average increase over the past year. Buying a canal house will only cost you 14% more this year than it would have in 2020 — whoever would have thought Amsterdam would have the lowest inflation. The brokers’ association indicated earlier this year that the strongest wave of pricing increases in the region is over.
Meanwhile, if you’re planning to buy a house in The Hague, Rotterdam, and Utrecht, it’ll cost you 20% more this year.
What is your experience of the Dutch housing market? Tell us in the comments below!
Feature Image: Oledjio/Depositphotos