Half of homes sold above asking as sale prices set to rise 11% this year

Supply and demand on the housing market continued to grow further apart in 2020. More and more homes were sold above the asking price and homes were on the market for a shorter period of time, Statistic Netherlands (CBS) stated. Economists at Rabobank also predict that home prices in the Netherlands will rise by 11 percent this year, according to Parool.

The prices of homes sold were compared to the last known asking price, in a study jointly carried out by CBS and the national land registry. In 2020, half of the homes were sold above the asking price, and 38 percent below. In 2015, 87% of properties were sold for less than what the asking price was. 7 percent of homes changed hands at above the asking price.

While overbidding was mainly an Amsterdam phenomenon back in 2017, it had largely become the norm throughout the country last year, CBS said.

The hike in housing prices in the Netherlands is partly due to favorable economic prospects, broader lending standards and the abolition of transfer tax for first-time buyers, Rabobank economists explained.

On average, a home will be worth 36,000 euros more this year. Next year, prices are expected to rise less rapidly at 4.6 percent. The analysts have revised their previous estimates for both this year and next year. The bank previously predicted prices to increase by eight and four percent respectively.

According to Rabobank, the Dutch economy is even more robust than previously anticipated. Unemployment has also fallen further in recent months and is expected to rise less rapidly than previously thought. In addition, the housing supply is particularly low, which drives up the prices.