Fewer people under 45 years of age wish to buy a home; first drop in 12 years

For the first time in 12 years, there has been a drop in the number of people under 45 years of age stating that they want to move to a purchased home, RaboResearch has reported. Especially people with an income lower than twice the modal income have less need for a purchased home due to the difficult circumstances in the housing market. Almost two in three purchased homes could not be bought with an average income in 2023.

That the demand for purchased homes amongst people under 45 has dropped can also be seen in the number of people that own a home, Rabobank said. In 2019, Rabobank economists had signaled a reduction in home ownership amongst this group. Since then, the share of homeowners under 45 has dropped further, especially amongst households with an income of less than twice the modal income.

The drop in homeownership amongst under-45s is evident throughout the country, in which home ownership amongst households under 25 years of age, between 25 and 35 years of age, and between 35 and 45 years of age has dropped.

It is currently the case that the share of households with a purchased home is decreasing throughout the Netherlands. The bank has said that is linked to the rise of investors after the financial crisis of 2008. These investors bought homes to then rent them out, which has led to the supply of purchased homes becoming tighter.

Since the financial crisis, the propensity to buy among home seekers who did not yet own a home has increased continuously until now. Around 58 percent of people aged 25 to 34 indicated that they wished to purchase a home in 2021. This number dropped to 52 percent in 2024. The urge to purchase a home mostly dropped amongst home seekers with an annual income of less than twice the modal income, which is around 89,000 euros in 2024.

The price to purchase a home has risen at a much faster rate than the income in recent years. As a result, the options for purchasing a house have rapidly decreased.

“Due to the fast rise in housing prices and the tight housing market it has become plausible that home seekers, especially those with an income of less than twice the modal income, do not expect the option of buying a house to be amongst their possibilities. And eventually, they let their wish to buy a home go as a result,” said Rabobank economist Carola de Groot.

Last week, the mortgage advisement company De Hypotheker reported that home seekers need to have at least twice the modal income to buy an average-sized home.