Home buyers have less and less choice. Halfway through the first quarter, there were only 17,500 homes for sale at NVM brokers. That’s the lowest number since the brokerage association began tracking the numbers in 1995.
Due to the limited supply, buyers on average only have a choice of less than two houses. And because of that shortage, prices continue to rise sharply. In the first quarter of last year, buyers paid an average of 400,000 euros for a new-build house, which has now risen to 433,000 euros.
Buyers paid 385,000 euros for an existing home in the first three months of this year, 15 percent more than last year. According to the NVM, such a big increase in a year has not occurred in the last 20 years.
Opsterland and Southwest Drenthe
Especially in a large part of the Northern Netherlands, prices shot up last year. In regions such as Opsterland and Southwest Drenthe, homebuyers already paid 20 percent more for a house in the first quarter of this year than a year ago. According to the brokers, it fits with the increasing interest in “the rural area”.
This makes these regions well above the major cities. In Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, prices rose by around 15 percent. In Amsterdam the price increase was stuck at 7 percent. This is mainly because prices in Amsterdam had already risen sharply in recent years, say the brokers.
“It is unprecedented what is happening on the housing market. The low interest rates, the enormous housing shortage and the stable socio-economic outlook are causing tightness and driving prices further up”, says NVM chairman Onno Hoes. “The need is urgent, a new minister with specific responsibility for spatial planning and housing is essential to turn the tide”
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