Most first-time buyers had negative house hunting experience
Over three-quarters of first-time buyers in the Netherlands rate the search for their first home as negative or frustrating. Househunting is challenging and negatively impacts their mood and daily life, the homeowners association VEH found in a survey of over 13,000 first-time buyers.
More than half of respondents said their chances in the housing market have not improved compared to a year ago. Rising mortgage interest rates negated the slight fall in home prices and slightly increased supply, and they still couldn’t find an affordable home. First-time buyers in the Netherlands are feeling frustrated, dissatisfied, and despondent, the VEH said.
First-time buyers also have concerns about the high housing costs of their private sector rental homes and rising energy bills. They’d love to save more for buying their first home but can no longer afford to. About 30 percent have given up on finding a home.
First-time buyers with a single income, which makes up the largest group at 62 percent, have the hardest time finding a place. They often have to make considerable sacrifices to their housing needs, like looking outside the municipality they’d like to live in or settling for a smaller home than what they actually need.
Single-income starters on the housing market can borrow an average of about 270,000 euros for their first home. The average house price in the Netherlands in January was over 424,000 euros, Statistics Netherlands reported Wednesday. Appraisal company Calcasa said last week that this group could only afford 3.4 percent of the available homes in the Netherlands. In almost half of the Dutch municipalities, they can afford less than 1 percent.
According to the VEH, the government needs to build more homes that are actually affordable to this group. And do more to ensure that construction plans actually realize. Three-quarters of first-time buyers don’t feel politically supported in the problems they experience in the housing market. They think the government - national and local - doesn’t do enough to improve their chances.
