Nearly no affordable homes left for those earning less than €55K: Analyst

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find an affordable home in the Netherlands. A massive three quarters of the home supply in the Netherlands now costs more than 250 thousand euros, unaffordable for households with an income below 55 thousand euros per year, according Dynamis analyst Rogier Weck based on figures for the last quarter of 2019.

In one year, the number of available homes below the 250 thousand euros mark decrease from 22 thousand to 13,500, Weck wrote on the Dynamis site on Thursday. In municipalities like Utrecht, Tilburg, and Emmen, the number of homes in this affordable range halved over the past year.

At the same time, home seekers with higher incomes are seeing their options increase in many urban municipalities due to new developments. Five out of six newly built homes sold over the past year cost more than 250 thousand euros, making them unaffordable for mid-level income households. 

Newly built homes are often more expensive because they are generally larger than existing homes, have a higher level of finishing, and due to rising construction costs. On average buyers pay 45 thousand euros more for a newly built home than a comparable existing home, according to the analyst.