Landlord sell-off drives quarterly home sales to highest point in nearly five years

There was a sharp increase in the volume of homes sold in the third quarter in the Netherlands, driven largely by investors and landlords selling off their rental supply. Some 62,582 homes were sold in July, August, and September, the highest total since the coronavirus pandemic, according to Kadaster, the Dutch land registration office.

The last time so many homes were sold in a single quarter was at the start of 2021, when more than 66,600 homes changed hands.

Nearly 16 percent more homes changed hands during the third quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2024.

The surge is mainly due to investors selling many residential rental properties. They sold off a high volume of affordable homes, especially apartments. The total number of apartments sold rose by almost a quarter compared to a year ago.

The wave of individual home sales is causing the increase in average closing prices to flatten out a bit. In the third quarter, buyers paid an average of around 487,000 euros for a home. A year earlier, the total was 456,384 euros. However, homes were also slightly cheaper compared to the second quarter, when an average home cost 494,346 euros.

In 78 municipalities, the average house price exceeded 550,000 euros. The average price remained below 300,000 euros in only four municipalities during the past three months, the Kadaster said. The group includes Pekela in Groningen, and the Limburg municipalities of Brunssum, Kerkrade, and Heerlen.

Earlier this month, the Dutch Association of Realtors (NVM) also reported that significantly more homes changed hands in the third quarter, and that a large proportion of these were former rental properties. Landlords are increasingly opting against re-letting their properties once tenants leave due to higher taxes and stricter rent laws.

The NVM’s figures are based on the moment a purchase contract is signed. So the realtors’ reporting comes earlier than the Land Registry’s, which bases its figures on when the transaction is registered by the notary.

Vastgoed Belang, the organization that represents landlords’ interests, says that cheaper homes now being put up for sale are coming at the expense of the private rental sector, particularly in the social and mid-market segments.

“This is putting more and more home seekers who cannot buy in dire straits,” the association said. It urged the national government to reduce regulations and taxes and create space for housing development.