Home prices increase for 4th consecutive month; Up 0.6% in Sept

Owner-occupied homes in the Netherlands became slightly more expensive last month than the month before, reported Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the Land Registry. In September, buyers paid 0.6 percent more for a home than in August. It was the fourth month in a row that prices increased on a monthly basis.

On average, buyers paid 422,175 euros for an existing house in September. Compared to a year earlier, prices were still 3.5 percent lower. In addition, fewer homes changed hands last month. A total of 16,089 homes were sold in September, 8.7 percent less than in September 2022.

In recent years, owner-occupied homes have become considerably more expensive, partly due to the housing shortage in the Netherlands. But, over the course of last year, prices started to fall. That was mainly due to a sharp increase in mortgage interest rates, resulting in home seekers being able to borrow less money to buy a house. However, prices have been rising again since June. CBS chief economist Pieter Hein van Mulligen said last month that the price decline seemed to be behind us. According to him, the effect of the increased interest rates was “more or less over now.”

Real estate agents and home seekers also noticed that homes were becoming more expensive again. Earlier this month, the realtors’ association NVM reported that the tightness in the housing market is increasing again and that buyers are having to outbid the asking price more often. Experts have been pointing out for some time that more homes are urgently needed. The Netherlands is still struggling with a significant housing shortage.

Despite this, a new decline in house prices cannot be ruled out, according to Klaas Knot, president of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). “I do not rule out that prices will go up for a few months now, but will go down again for a few months later,” he recently said in a conversation with the ANP. However, he did not foresee “a dramatic fall” in house prices. “The Dutch have too much cash for that.” Knot emphasized that unemployment is still “super low.” As a result, most people still have work and, therefore, income to spend.