“We hear very extreme examples where brokers say: what is happening here is actually irresponsible,” says NVM chairman Onno Hoes. “But yes, if people want to pay for it, they are free to do so.”
For houses under 5 tons, overbidding more than 100,000 euros is rare. For houses between 4 and 5 tons it happens in 1 percent of the cases and between 3 and 4 tons only in 0.1 percent of the sales.
595,000 asked, 700,000 bid
One of the people who recently paid more than a ton above the asking price is Jean-Paul. Together with his husband, he bought a house in Zwolle for 7 tons with an asking price of 595,000 euros. “Before this, we had already bid 650,000 on another house with an asking price of 595,000 as well,” he says.
“That was then sold for 7 tons. At the next house, on the advice of our purchasing agent and looking at what was happening in the market, we outbid more than a hundred thousand and of course without reservation of financing. Because you have to let that in this overstrained housing market. to be eligible.”
They are now moving from an apartment to a semi-detached house with a garden. “It’s just a choice to outbid. You inquire about the possibilities, how far you can go. But we have remained realistic, we have looked at the market value of the house and the selling price of other houses in the area.”
Ten times bid, always too little
Due to rising prices and all that overbidding, few home seekers succeed. So is Stefano Tuik. He and his girlfriend have now bid on a house ten times. “We often offer around 30,000 euros above the asking price, but we notice that that is now on the low side.”
They offered 305,000 on a house in Gouda with an asking price of 275.00 euros. “We really wanted it, but it was sold to someone else for 337,500 euros. So more than 60,000 above the asking price. We think it should remain realistic in terms of overbidding. We have a certain budget. Most of what we have outbid is 37,500 euros. If we really fall in love with a house, we might overbid even more. But it has to be worth it.”
‘Sales process must be more transparent’
The enormous overbidding is logically due to the enormous shortage on the housing market, says professor of housing market Peter Boelhouwer of TU Delft. According to him, the sales process should be more transparent. “The current system is not suitable for this tight housing market. For example, do a valuation in advance, not after the purchase. Then you have more clarity about the value in advance. And don’t look for an appraiser through your broker, but get an independent one. You often hear stories about brokers who say to appraisers: the value has to be close there and there.”
The appraised value of a house is important when getting a mortgage, which may not exceed 100 percent of the appraised value.
Bidding could also be arranged differently, according to Boelhouwer. “Consider the Norwegian system, for example, where you know how many others are bidding. Because the difference between the highest bid and the second highest bid is sometimes very large.” The Home Owners Association recently also argued in favor of more transparency.
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