Record mortgage applications last year; First-time buyers' position deteriorating

The Dutch mortgage market reached a new record in 2025, according to figures from the Mortgage Data Network (HDN). The majority of all mortgage applications are processed through HDN. In 2025, over 563,500 mortgage applications were submitted through HDN, an increase of 16.5 percent compared to the previous year. The applications show that first-time buyers’ position in the housing market is deteriorating again.

In 2024, young homebuyers still benefited from falling mortgage rates and rising wages. But HDN noticed their position worsening in 2025. This is primarily due to an increasing number of homes becoming unaffordable for first-time buyers. Consequently, the share of applications submitted by first-time buyers fell by 3.4 percent.

Nearly two-thirds of all applications were for buying a home. The remainder were from the non-buyers market, primarily mortgage refinancing and mortgage increases. The strongest growth in 2025 was in the non-buyer market. Applications, primarily from retirees and refinancers, resulted in a 21.4 percent increase in that market.

“2025 demonstrates how wide the gap in the housing market has become. First-time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to find affordable housing and are having to pull out all the stops financially. Meanwhile, movers and retirees are increasingly actively using their home equity,” said HDN director Reinier van der Heijden. “This contrast is increasingly determining the dynamics of the mortgage market.”

The price of an owner-occupied home rose by 4.9 percent in 2025 to an average of €512,000. This meant that property values rose less rapidly than in 2024, when homes became 9.6 percent more expensive compared to the previous year. The average mortgage amount for buyers in 2025 was €373,000, an increase of 3.7 percent.