Official home valuations jumped 16.4% in a year to an average €369,000

The average market value of Dutch homes - the WOZ value - was 369,000 euros on 1 January 2023. That is an increase of 16.4 percent compared to a year earlier and the highest value ever, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Monday.

Municipalities determine the WOZ value of homes based on home prices, among other things, on the first of January the year before. Therefore, this year’s WOZ value is based on the situation in the Dutch housing market on 1 January 2020. At that time, owner-occupied home prices had increased 20 percent compared to the year before.

The home price developments for the rest of 2022 have not yet been included in the current WOZ value. Home prices were 1 percent higher in January 2023 than in January 2022.

The municipality of Lelystad saw the biggest increase in the average WOZ value at 26.3 percent to 327,000 euros. Among the provinces, Flevoland saw the strongest increase at 19.2 percent to 348,000. And among the four large cities, Amsterdam’s WOZ values rose most at 19.1 percent, followed by Utrecht with 17.6 percent.

The municipality of Bloemandaal has the highest WOZ value in the Netherlands at 932,000 euros. Pekela has the lowest at 194,000 euros. Among the provinces, Noord-Holland (461,000 euros) has the highest average WOZ value, and Groningen (268,000 euros) has the lowest.

The national government uses WOZ value to determine several taxes, such as property tax, income tax, and water board tax. The price development of existing owner-occupied homes and the WOZ value can’t be directly compared. The WOZ value calculation also includes rental homes and unsold owner-occupied homes, among other things.

“In addition, the housing stock changes due to new construction and demolition, which generally results in a higher WOZ value. Newly built homes usually have a higher OWZ value than homes that disappear due to demolition,” CBS explained.