Dutch market for holiday homes cooling down
The Dutch market for holiday homes cooled down in 2025. The number of transactions rose slightly, prices stabilized, and supply grew enough to balance the market, the Dutch association for realtors, NVM, reported on Thursday.
Last year, NVM realtors sold 4,273 recreational homes, 2.9 percent more than in 2024. The average selling price was €247,000, about the same as a year earlier. Supply increased significantly: over 2,700 holiday homes were listed through NVM, the highest number in 15 years.
As a result, buyers had more to choose from and paid an average of 3.4 percent below the asking price. Only 15 percent were sold above the asking price. Holiday homes sold an average of 84 days after being listed, significantly longer than the 32-day average for existing owner-occupied homes.
After years of scarcity, the holiday home market is moving towards equilibrium, Anneke Haak-Bronsema of the NVM said. “It is no longer an overheated market,” Haak-Bronsema said. “Buyers are taking their time again and negotiating more aggressively. That is healthy, but it also requires realism from sellers.”
According to the realtors, the holiday market is strongly influenced by changes to the Box 3 assets tax, higher VAT on rentals, and rising costs. Investors are buying fewer holiday homes, while private buyers are showing more interest. “Recreational homes are once again being bought more often based on emotion and use, rather than for return on investment,’ Haak-Bronsema said. “That makes the market more stable, but also less speculative.”
National figures conceal major regional differences, the realtors added. Drenthe saw the largest increase in transactions at +33 percent. The number of sales in Twente/Salland grew by 24 percent. Overbidding was also “remarkably frequent’ in these areas.
In Zeeland, the supply increased sharply (+28 percent), but sales dropped by 9 percent. “Zeeland is one of the first regions where a buyer's market is emerging,” says Haak-Bronsema. “That is due to a combination of declining demand and rapidly growing supply, particularly in the higher segment.”
The Wadden Islands are still the most expensive region for holiday homes with an average selling price of €519,000 last year. Buyers can get the best value for money in Limburg, where holiday homes cost €2,616 per square meter.
