Prices of existing owner-occupied homes fell in all provinces last quarter. The decline was strongest in the provinces of Utrecht, Flevoland and Noord-Holland, where prices were 3 to 4 percent lower than in the previous quarter. This is evident from figures from Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry. The smallest decrease was in Limburg (1.2 percent).
Nationally measured, an owner-occupied home cost an average of 415,546 euros in the last quarter of last year. That was 2.4 percent lower than the previous quarter. It was the first time in nine years that prices went down.
Prices also fell in the four major cities. The decrease was greatest in the city of Utrecht, with a minus of 6.3 percent. Rotterdam came out best, with a decrease of only 1.7 percent.
The number of transactions did increase. Between the beginning of October and the end of December, 51,345 houses changed hands in the Netherlands. That was 1.8 percent more than the previous quarter. More houses were sold in ten of the twelve provinces. Exceptions were Flevoland and Utrecht.
Compared to a year earlier, houses were still more expensive. In December, you paid an average of 2.7 percent more for an owner-occupied house than twelve months previously. That is the smallest increase in more than seven years.
Kadaster and CBS only looked at existing buildings. New construction is therefore not taken into account.
The estate agent association NVM previously published figures on the housing market. The figures from Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry are not entirely the same, because NVM only looks at transactions concluded by brokers affiliated with them.
