Peak in rental sell-offs over; Home prices falling in more municipalities

Home price increases in the Netherlands are slowing down, the Kadaster, the Dutch Land Registry, reported on Thursday. In 37 percent of Dutch municipalities, owner-occupied home prices were lower in the first quarter of this year than a year earlier. The Kadaster also noted that the peak of rental sell-offs by private investors seems to be behind us.

The rental sell-off had a big effect on the Dutch housing market. Because private investors sell mainly cheaper homes, the sell-off pressured purchase prices. In the first quarter, home prices were 5.2 percent higher than one year ago. “Prices rose at an increasingly slower pace,” the Kadaster said. “Without investor sales, the average purchase price would have been over 3 percent higher.”

First-time buyers paid an average of €406,000 for their home in the first quarter, up from €392,000 a year earlier. Homeowners moving up the property ladder paid €561,000 on average, up from €553,000 in the first quarter of 2025.

In 125 of the 342 Dutch municipalities (37%), the average purchase price of an owner-occupied home was lower than a year earlier. In the first quarter of 2025, that was still 8 percent. In 16 of the 45 largest municipalities (36 percent), home prices decreased compared to a year ago. In the first quarter of 2025, that was still 2 percent.

Only three Dutch municipalities still had an average home price of less than €300,000 in the first quarter. In 25 percent of municipalities, the average price was higher than €550,000.

In the first quarter of 2026, private investors sold over 3,400 rental homes to owner-occupiers. “For the first time in three years, this is fewer than a year earlier,” the Kadaster said. “With this, the peak of the sales wave among private investors appears to have been reached.”

Due to rent regulation and higher taxes, many private landlords have gotten rid of their rental properties in recent years because renting them out became less profitable. As a result, the supply of often cheaper, smaller apartments in the owner-occupied segment of the housing market increased significantly, mainly benefiting first-time buyers. But at the same time, the rental market shrank. In the first quarter, investors, both private and commercial, sold over 4,500 more homes to owner-occupiers than they bought.

In the first quarter, over 76,000 homes were sold, an increase of 18 percent compared to a year earlier, but 12 percent less than the previous quarter. First-time buyers purchased 43 percent of all owner-occupied homes. “This has remained at a high level for several years now. They bought many small homes in large cities,” the Kadaster said.