Dutch housing prices increase again, market stabilising

However, when looking at last year’s house prices, the difference is sharply different. Compared to July last year, house prices are now 5.5 per cent lower. In that month, however, house prices did peak. This was followed by months of declining house prices. Peter Boelhouwer, Professor of Housing Market at TU Delft, notes that the housing market is stabilising. ‘Actually, these figures come from May, because houses are being sold a bit earlier than reported. The second quarter is always good though. You saw that last year too.’ Therefore, one has to guard against too positive expectations in the coming months. ‘It does not immediately mean that next quarter will also be positive again.’ It is also notable that in July, 9 procent less houses were sold than a month earlier.

Lending capacity
The fact that houses became cheaper in the last months is mainly caused by the rapid rise in mortgage rates, following the European Central Bank’s interest rate provisions. As a result, the borrowing capacity of house seekers became lower, which also caused house prices to dip. Despite this, the average mortgage amount in July did reach its highest point since April 2022, De Hypotheker calculated. This was probably caused by the rise in wages.That the market is stabilising also shows in mortgage rates, Boelhouwer stressed. ‘Mortgage rates have been stable for a few months now. Mutations are important in price development, but the fact that the rate remains stable already gives an indication that stabilisation may be taking place.

Median VPV on the rise again

• The median transaction price has been rising since February and has reached ?3.836 per sqm in July 2023, which is only 3.4% lower than the peak of ? 3.971 in June 2022.
• Number of monthly transactions has risen to 17,291 in July, compared to 11,520 in January
• The median transaction price for new-build homes has dropped from around ? 500,000 in August 2022 to ?450,000 in July 2023, while the price per sqm. has remained relatively stable. This effect is due to the relative increased number of smaller homes sold in expensive cities, which have higher prices per sqm. but lower transaction prices.
• Current uptrend may partly be due to seasonal effects