House prices in the Netherlands were almost 20 percent higher in the first quarter of 2022 than a year earlier. This puts our country in the top four of countries in the European Union with the largest increase in house prices, according to new figures from Statistics Netherlands, the Land Registry and Eurostat.
The Czech Republic, Estonia and Hungary are still above the Netherlands in the list of EU countries with the largest increase in house prices in the first three months of this year. The average increase was much lower, at about 10 percent.
However, the average price of an existing owner-occupied home in the first quarter of 2022 was slightly lower than in the last quarter of last year. This was apparent from figures from the NVM real estate association.
Fewer homes sold
About 30 percent fewer homes were sold in the first quarter than in the same quarter a year earlier. This is the fourth quarter in a row that the number of homes sold has decreased compared to the same period a year earlier.
Only the number of new-build owner-occupied homes rose slightly: 1.7 percent.
Although fewer houses are being sold, the housing market in the Netherlands is still quite overheated. For example, buyers are still willing to offer considerably more than the asking price: for four out of five homes, more than the asking price was paid in the first three months of 2022.