Overbidding at all time high on Dutch housing market

A third of the homes sold in the Netherlands in the second quarter of 2018 were sold above the asking price - the first time ever that overbidding happened so often in the country, according to the Dutch association of realtors NVM. In early 2014 only 5 percent of homes were sold at above asking price, RTL Nieuws reports.

For apartments, buyers on average paid 1.9 percent more than asking price. Also a first for the Netherlands, buyers overbidding on intermediate homes. According to NVM chairman Ger Jaarsma, there is only one place in the country where buyers really still have a choice between homes, and that is in Noordoost-Groningen. "The consumer is the victim, first time buyers most of all", Jaarsma said, according to the broadcaster.

The average sale price for a home in the Netherlands was 288 thousand euros in the second quarter, an increase of 10.4 percent compared to the same quarter last year. NVM brokers sold a total of 38,600 homes in the second quarter, around 70 percent of the total number of homes that were for sale.

Jaarsma calls for more homes to be built quickly. "The low supply, the high prices and the fact that most of the new homes are produced for upgraders mean that especially first time buyers are having a harder time finding a house", he said.