Home prices up 9.7% in June; Strongest increase in nearly 2 years

Home prices rose sharply again last month, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the Land Registry reported. In June, the prices of existing owner-occupied homes were, on average, 9.7 percent higher than in June 2023. That is the largest increase in almost two years.

In June, buyers paid an average of 441,112 euros for an existing owner-occupied home. That is 1.3 percent more than in the previous month.

The housing market has been very tight for some time. There are many more people who want to buy a house than there are homes for sale. Partly because of this, prices rose considerably until about two years and potential buyers often had to outbid the asking price. Prices then fell slightly due to higher mortgage interest rates.

Home prices have been rising again since June 2023. According to the statistics agency, in June 2024, average home prices were 3.2 percent higher than at the previous peak in July 2022.

The fact that prices are now rising again is, in addition to the housing shortage, due to a combination of large wage increases and a lot of leftover savings from the coronavirus period. This allows people to offer more for a home. Mortgage interest rates have also decreased.

The number of homes that changed ownership in June decreased. The Land Registry registered 14,663 housing transactions in June, almost 12 percent less than a year earlier. In the first half of 2024, 92,383 homes were sold, almost 9 percent more than a year earlier.

The Dutch Association of Real Estate Agents (NVM) reported at the beginning of July that house prices had risen to the highest level ever in the second quarter due to the tight housing market. According to the NMV, the average sales price of existing homes last quarter was 468,000 euros, 7.2 percent more than in the first quarter of 2024.

The realtors spoke of an “exceptional” increase because an increase of this magnitude has only occurred once since measurements started in 1995. Unlike the CBS figures, the NVM ones are based on the moment the purchase contract is signed. The CBS looks at registration by the notary, which happens later. So, the real estate agents often identify trends earlier.