Existing owner-occupied homes were 19.7 percent more expensive in April than one year previously. This is evident from figures published on Monday by Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry. Compared to June 2013, when house prices bottomed out, prices were almost twice as high last April.
In March, house prices were still 19.5 percent more expensive than a year ago. Last January saw the largest price increase since the CBS measurements of house prices began in 1995, when owner-occupied homes were 21.2 percent more expensive than a year earlier.
According to the Land Registry, more than 59,000 homes were sold in the first four months of 2022. That is almost a third less than in the same period last year. Last quarter the lowest number of housing transactions in six years was made. Especially in relatively expensive cities — Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht — the number of houses sold fell sharply.
Overstrained housing market
In order to relieve the pressure of the overstrained housing market, the government wants to build 100,000 homes per year over the next nine years. According to a forecast by research agency ABF Research, 936,000 homes will be needed from 2021 to 2030. About 77,000 of these were built last year.
While the average selling price of homes in 1995 was still more than 93,000 euros, according to the most recent figures from the CBS in March more than 426,000 euros: more than three and a half times as high. In many cases, the bid exceeds the asking price and homes are sold relatively quickly.