Netherlands house prices reach record high

House prices in the Netherlands reached record high in May, rising above the peak in August 2008 to the highest level ever, according to figures Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry released on Thursday.

Last month the average price to buy a house in the Netherlands was 283,945 euros, 9 percent higher than a year earlier. This only includes existing owner-occupied homes, new construction is not included in these figures. In April house prices were also almost 9 percent higher than they were in April 2017.

Housing prices in the Netherlands have increased continuously since the low point of the housing market during the financial crisis in June 2013. In May the average house was around 28 percent more expensive than five years ago.

Last month a total of 18,237 homes were sold, almost 2 thousand more than in April. The total value of homes sold in May amounted to nearly 5.2 billion euros. In the first five months of this year, 86,609 homes were sold, 6.5 percent less than in the same period last year.