The housing prices in the Netherlands are rising rapidly, showing an increase of 12,9% in comparison to May 2020, the Dutch bureau of Statistics states. This is the highest increase since April 2001, when the growth was 11.5%, which happened to be a 20- year record high as well. At the same time, only 16.000 homes were sold in May 2021, a 12% decrease from the previous year, indicating the growing disparity between supply and demand.

This increasing shortage of supply has resulted in a very competitive housing market. On top of housing prices already rising, most homes are being overbid as well. In the last 6 months alone, 50% of homes were sold for more than the asking price. In comparison, this same percentage six years ago was just 7%. Looking back to 2015, 87% of the homes were sold below the asking price. In 2020, this was only 38%. The Dutch Bureau of Statistics’ figures reflects a fast widening gap between supply and demand, which can also be observed on real estate websites where houses are listed for as little as one week before already being sold above the asking price.

Where to build?

To combat these issues, the construction sector is aiming to realize one million new homes in the upcoming 10 years. 18 locations have been targeted at this time, with a focus on already existing towns and cities. A complication with this, however, is that there is not nearly enough free space there to meet the high demand. According to the director of the Economic Institute of Construction in the Netherlands, the focus should instead be on farmland in the countryside, where a lot more room is available.

The housing market for buyers in the Netherlands is hot and will probably stay like this for a while as there are no signs of cooling down as of yet. The rental market, on the other hand, is remaining steady and this might be a good option for internationals who are newly moving here.

If you would like more information or assistance with settling in and living in the Netherlands, please feel free to reach out to our Relocation department via: relo@expatmanagementgroup.com