There are 40,000 houses fewer for sale annually due to homeowners moving less

One of the reasons that the housing market is getting stuck is that fewer homeowners are moving to a different home. This has led to a decrease of 40,000 when it comes to homes that are for sale compared to the period of 2016 to 2020. This was reported by Brainbay, a subsidiary of the NVM real estate agents' association, on Thursday after an investigation.

The number of homes that are for sale annually because a homeowner is moving to a different home is now just over 100,000, Brainbay calculated. The research institute believes the reason for the reduction is that homeowners want to buy a new home before they sell their old home. But, because supply is much smaller than demand, this is not always possible.

“First-time buyers usually spend most attention on what they can borrow and what they can do with their budget. Whereas movers mainly look at whether a new home meets their needs and whether it is worth the higher monthly costs. They cancel or postpone the move if there is no need to move," researcher Rogier Weck explained.

Homeowners that do not move are usually people for which moving is mainly a wish, Brainbay reported. These are usually elderly people, families with older children, or single earners. Some homeowners decide to remodel their home instead of moving.

Other reasons that homeowners moved less are the rise in housing prices and the lack of trust in the housing market for buyers, according to Weck. Many homeowners had doubts about whether now is a good time to purchase a new home.

Many homeowners wondered whether they could get a good price for their home when house prices were still falling in 2022 and 2023, the researcher said.

The research institute thinks more new construction homes for elderly people and movers need to be built to help solve this issue. These must be worth the higher monthly costs, brainbay emphasized.

For example, by allowing seniors to move to newly built senior homes and families to move to larger new-build homes, more affordable homes should become available for starters, among others.