Home prices down nearly 6% in May

Existing home prices in the Netherlands were 5.6 percent lower in May than in the same month last year. The decrease was again greater than the previous month when owner-occupied homes cost 4.4 percent less than in April 2022, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Thursday.

Compared to April 2023, existing owner-occupied home prices fell by only 0.1 percent in May. The average transaction price was 403,913 euros in May, still 87 percent higher than the post-credit crisis low point in the housing market in June 2013. The home price index has been falling almost continuously since August 2022.

The small month-to-month decrease in May could indicate that the current dip in the housing market is coming to an end. ING’s monthly poll among homeowners and first-time buyers showed that the mood in the housing market has improved for the first time in about 18 months. “Confidence in the housing market is increasing, especially among first-time buyers,” Wim Flikweert, housing market manager at ING, told De Telegraaf. “That is good news, but too early to cheer, especially since the economic situation is still a concern for many.”

Online broker Makelaarsland is also noticing a turnaround, with overbidding again becoming increasingly common. “The low point was at the end of last year with 11 percent overbids. By way of comparison: throughout 2021, 75 percent of the bids were above the asking price,” Makelaarsland director Gijs van Wijgerden told the newspaper. “Now the figures are climbing a bit. For the first time since October, this percentage has risen above 30.” The average time a house is on the market is also decreasing, from 83 days in March to 67 days now.

Last month, the Land Registry registered 15,099 home sales, over 4 percent lower than in May 2022. In the first five months of this year, 68,352 homes changed hands. That is almost 10 percent less than in the same period last year.