Houses 16 percent more expensive than a year earlier, largest increase in more than 20 years

The overheated housing market broke another record in July. An existing owner-occupied home was more than 16 percent more expensive that month than a year earlier. And that is the largest price increase since October 2000, according to research by the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Land Registry.

In July . reported real estate association NVM already that buyers nowadays lose an average of more than 4 tons for an existing home. The highest measurement ever by the NVM. Buyers especially have to dig deeper into their pockets for a detached house.

And to get hold of a house, buyers increasingly have to more than half a ton above the asking price. In extreme situations, brokers speak of “irresponsible” overbids. “But yes, if people want to pay for it, they are free to do so,” said NVM chairman Onno Hoes.

Build, build, build?

The real estate association called on the government to do something about the overheated housing market, because the supply of homes is drying up. But economists are earlier in the price increase not only to the housing shortage, but especially to the financial causes behind the increase.

De Nederlandsche Bank, for example, called cheaper home financing an important factor in the rise in house prices. And the International Monetary Fund also stated that the taxation of home ownership too generous resulting in an artificial increase in the demand for owner-occupied housing.

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