Amsterdam housing prices up 13 percent

Home prices in Amsterdam increased sharply in Amsterdam in the third quarter, while the number of home sales in the entire Noord-Holland dropped, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry. Home prices in Amsterdam were 13.8 percent higher, compared to the third quarter last year. Nationwide, home prices increased by 7.6 percent.

Home sales in the Netherlands reached record high in the third quarter. Over 61 thousand homes were sold, the highest number ever sold in one quarter. These transactions involved over 16 billion euros.

In Noord-Holland, home prices increased by 11 percent and home sales dropped by 8 percent. In Amsterdam, housing prices increased by 13.8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2016, and the number of homes sold decreased by 12.2 percent.

The same could be seen in Utrecht and Rotterdam. In Utrecht housing prices increased by 11.5 percent, and sales dropped by 6.5 percent. In Rotterdam prices increased 13.5 percent, and sales dropped by 1.8 percent. The Hague also saw a big increase in housing prices, 11.6 percent, but housing sales in the city did not decrease. They increased by 4.2 percent.

After Noord-Holland, the province of Utrecht is the only other province in the Netherlands that saw a decrease in housing sales, minus 6.3 percent. Housing sales in all other provinces increased.

Last week the Dutch association of realtors NVM also released housing market figures for the third quarter. The NVM figures also showed that fewer homes were sold in Amsterdam. But instead of a price increase, the NVM reported a slight decrease in the Dutch capital.

The difference between the NVM figures and Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry's figures is due to the fact that the NVM figures are based on preliminary contracts of properties sold by NVM realtors. Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry work with all existing homes sold, and only after the sale is registered with the Land Registry - that could sometimes take months after the sales contract was first signed.