Rental sell-offs continue to slow down home price increases; Up 6.6 percent in October

The prices of existing homes rose by an average of 6.6 percent in October, compared to a year earlier, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported based on data from the Land Registry. According to CBS, price increases have been lower than the previous month for seven consecutive months.

The average sales price of an existing home was €498,996 last month. In September, prices rose by an average of 7 percent year-on-year. In the spring, prices were still increasing by over 10 percent. Compared to September, prices rose by an average of 0.5 percent last month.

Dutch home prices peaked in July 2022, when the trend reversed and prices fell for a while. However, the trend has been rising again since June 2023. In October, home prices were an average of 14.5 percent higher than the previous peak in July 2022.

The current slowdown in price increases is caused by an influx of rentals entering the owner-occupied market. Smaller landlords have been selling their rental properties as soon as the tenant leaves since the government implemented rent regulation for mid-market properties. This, combined with several tax changes, has made renting the properties out less profitable than selling them at the current high prices. Because these properties tend to be smaller, cheaper apartments, they are depressing the price increases.

CBS also reported that 21,849 homes changed ownership last month, a 20.5 percent increase compared to a year earlier. In the first ten months of this year, there were 193,317 housing transactions. That’s over 17 percent more year-on-year.