Homes selling too fast for open days; Only 5,500 homes registered for national open day

Only 5,500 homes are registered with the realtors’ association NVM for the National Open House Day on Saturday - the lowest number ever and less than half the number registered last year. Homes are selling so fast and with so much interest that there is little incentive to participate in open days, the realtors told the Telegraaf.

Last year, home seekers could view nearly 14,000 homes during the Open House Day. In 2014, at the lowest point of the housing market following the credit crisis, 50,000 home sellers participated. According to the NVM, it is clear that the housing market has moved into higher gear after last year’s slight cooldown.

“People have become accustomed to the current interest rate level, which is not extreme from a historical perspective, and salaries have also risen sharply. People have the money and want to spend it,” NVM spokesperson Marc van der Lee said to the Telegraaf. However, due to the housing shortage, they have little to choose from. “If the supply is so limited, you will automatically adjust requirements. A house is already attractive to many people if they have the opportunity to buy it, regardless of the energy label or sustainability.”

Of the 5,648 available homes that will participate in the National Open Day, five percent already have an offer accepted by the owners, according to real estate listings website Funda. More than 3,200 properties have sat unsold for over a month for some reason, while only 325 have been put up for sale since Sunday.

Roughly half are available at more than the 550,000 euro price point. A few dozen are priced below 200,000 euros, and 500 are below the 300,000 euro mark.

There were 209 properties in Amsterdam expected to take part in the Open Day, 175 in Rotterdam, and 111 in The Hague. Utrecht (34), Eindhoven (25), and Groningen (59) were each good for just a few dozen more.

Makelaarsland, the largest online realtor associated with NVM, told the newspaper that the number of viewings of available homes has doubled in February and March compared to the same months last year. In the four large cities, viewings increased by as much as 308 percent. That’s great for the seller but not so much for home seekers. “The competition is, of course, also fierce. Due to the crowds, home seekers feel extra compelled to offer more than the asking price in order to win a house.”

Homes are in high demand due to the limited supply, said Marcel Arendsen of the Utrecht real estate agency chain Brecheisen. “The pressure on the market is enormous,” he told the newspaper. “We also notice this from the increase in the number of requests for a viewing. These are truly astronomical numbers: 30, 50, sometimes as many as 100. But then we put half of them on the waiting list, and we only contact them if an interesting offer is not forthcoming. Otherwise, it is impossible for the owner.”