Homes are on the market for less time and change hands at a higher price. In the period April to June, the sales price of an existing home increased by almost 3 percent, while the number of transactions increased by 20 percent compared to the first quarter of 2023.
On average, an existing house was for sale for 67 days in the past three months, compared to 84 days in the first quarter. A year ago, that period was only 32 days.
From the data presented on Thursday, the NVM brokers’ association concludes that “the dynamism is back in the market”. Home sellers still had to report an annual price drop of 8.2 percent in April. Then an average, existing home changed hands for 394,000 euros. That increased again slightly in the past quarter, to 410,000.
The average price for new-build homes did fall, namely by 1.2 percent to 468,000 euros. The supply amounted to 20,000 homes last quarter, an increase of 16 percent. According to Lana Gerssen, director of NVM brokers’ association, there is currently no question of a balanced market, because the shortage has only increased. “Demand is still clearly greater than supply.”
Options
The so-called shortage indicator – which indicates the number of options available to a buyer – was 2.8 in the second quarter, compared to 3.4 in the first three months of the year. The NVM assumes five to ten options for a balanced housing market. As a result of the shortage, the percentage of overbids has risen again, from 31 to 39. But the average selling price is still half a percent below the asking price.
Compared to the first quarter, the trend is up again, but compared to last year things are still less good for the selling party. At that time, for example, the percentage of overbids was 82. The number of transactions rose by 20 percent last quarter, to 34,000 existing homes, but compared to a year ago, that number is 5 percent lower.
The same can be seen in prices: the terraced house became 3.6 percent more expensive from quarter to quarter, but compared to a year earlier, the price was 7.1 percent lower. Corner houses (- 8.4 percent), detached houses (- 11.1 percent) and apartments (- 9.4 percent) also fell in value in twelve months. (NRC)