Amsterdam home sales nosedive while Netherlands sales rise

Amsterdam's housing market has shown a decline compared to that of the national market. In the first quarter of 2015, Amsterdam home sales totaled 2,490, which is 21.3 percent lower than in the last quarter of 2014, reports Het Parool. National sales were up by 19 percent from the first quarter of 2014, though down by 16.9 percent with respect to the last quarter of the previous year. The decline in the last quarter of 2014 is attributed to the high volume of sales in that period. “Compared to the figures of the last quarter of 2014, we see big differences,” Sven Heinen, president of Amsterdam's real estate association (MVA), is quoted saying. “But that was an exorbitant quarter. Not only did it reach an unexpected number of house sales, at 3,165, but prices also rose by more than 6 percent over a single quarter.” The price on the national market increased by 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2015, with the average cost of a home in the Netherlands now at 211,000 euros. This figure is 14 percent below the pre-crisis level, but 5 percent above the bottom value reached during the crisis.