NL home prices up 8% to highest level ever

In August, existing home prices in the Netherlands were 8.2 percent higher than in the same month last year - the biggest increase in 1.5 years, Statistics Netherlands said on Monday. At 336,277 euros for an average home, home prices in the country were at an all time high.

A total of 19,034 homes changed ownership in the country in August, nearly 3 percent less than in August 2019, according to figures from the Land Registry. In the first eight months of this year, 148,107 homes were sold, an increase of 5 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to Statistics Netherlands head economist Peter Hein van Mulligen, the effects of the coronavirus crisis are not yet visible on the housing market. This has to do with the fact that mainly young people and flexible workers were hit hard in this crisis, he said, according to NU.nl.

"For people with a permanent job, the corona crisis so far did not bring much financial problems," Van Mulligen said. Permanent employees and older people are more often homeowners than flex workers and young people.