Cheap new homes impossible to find in Netherlands: report

Not a single newly-built home for 200,000 euros or less was available on the Dutch housing market in the past quarter. And only 12 percent of newly-built homes on the market cost less than 300,000 euros. The supply of cheaper new homes dried up almost entirely in the past five years, Trouw reports based on figures from the realtors' association NVM.

Early in 2017, about 60 percent of newly built homes cost less than 300,000. Now that's 12 percent. Five years ago, 15 percent of new homes cost less than 200,000 euros. Now that's impossible to find.

Minister Hugo de Jonge for Public Housing wants to build 900,000 new homes by 2030 - about 100,000 per year. A third of these must fall into the category "mid-market rent" with a maximum rent of 1,000 euros, or "affordable purchase," which De Jonge set at 355,000 euros. That target will be challenging to reach, according to Trouw. If the NVM figures for the past quarter are converted to an entire year, only 8 or 9 percent of new construction will fall under "affordable purchase."

Homeowners' association VEH also raised doubts about exactly how affordable a purchase price of 355,000 euros is. According to the VEH, that amount is barely feasible for households with an income of twice the average. A family consisting of a police officer and a part-time secretary, for example, can get a maximum mortgage of 272,000 euros. A single nurse can only borrow 217,000 euros for a home.