The market for new-build homes has collapsed even harder than expected. In the fourth quarter of last year, sales more than halved. That is the strongest decline in seven years.
This is reported by Statistics Netherlands, partly on the basis of figures from the Kadaster and Eurostat, the European bureau of statistics.
The number of transactions in new-build homes fell increasingly faster in the course of last year. In the fourth quarter, more than 5,300 sales were made, 50.6 percent less than a year earlier. This is the largest decrease since the measurement started in 2015.
The number of sales of existing owner-occupied homes fell by 2.8 percent to over 51,000. This decrease was smaller than in previous quarters.
The Association of Dutch Project Development Companies (Neprom) expected at the end of last month that sales of new construction would halve this year, but it appears to have already halved in the fourth quarter of last year.
Insecurity
New starter homes are still selling, but the more expensive homes are no longer selling. Uncertainty about the housing market in particular is making buyers hesitant. Anyone who signs a purchase contract for a new-build house today has to wait one and a half to three years until the house is ready. Those who still have to sell their old house are no longer certain of the proceeds, as they have been in recent years. If house prices fall, this can mean a significant chunk of the budget.
According to mortgage provider Frits, some buyers get into trouble because of this. Smaller mortgage lenders in particular do not always take sufficient account of a declining housing market when making bridging mortgages. Frits has customers who have up to 22,000 euros less budget than expected.
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Existing homes are falling in price, while new construction is becoming more expensive due to inflation and rising wage costs
NVM will release fresh market figures on Thursday. The estate agent’s association previously warned that new construction is also becoming increasingly difficult because existing homes are falling in price, while new construction is becoming increasingly expensive due to inflation and increased wage costs.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the price of a new-build owner-occupied home was on average 6.1 percent higher than in the same quarter a year earlier. The average sales price of a new-build owner-occupied home amounted to almost 468,000 euros. The average sales price of an existing owner-occupied home was lower than that of a new-build owner-occupied home in the fourth quarter and amounted to almost 416,000 euros.
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