Buying a first home in the Netherlands has become increasingly difficult with starters having to pay over 90.000 euros out of pocket for a house purchase. Based on research by mortgage provider Munt Hypotheken, this amount has tripled in the past eight years.
According to Munt Hypotheken, in 2017 first-time buyers aged 35 and under only needed 34.805 euros of their own money to be able to afford a Dutch house. This has tripled with starters now needing 91.073 euros in equity - measured by calculating the difference between the amount for the mortgage and the house purchase price.
"The gap between starters with and without assets is increasing rapidly," director of the mortgage provider Menno Luiten told De Telegraaf. "That trend is unmistakable. Without financial support from family or a substantial savings balance, it is becoming increasingly difficult to acquire a home."
With around 190.000 customers, Munt Hypothekers has determined that the average amount for a mortgage on a starter home is 393.461 euros, which is especially tough for single individuals to afford. Dutch housing prices are also expected to see a sharp increase this year with house hunters expected to fork out an average of 520.000 euros to buy a home.
"There is this romantic image of starters as happy, young twenty-somethings who are busy painting and doing odd jobs, but starters are often in their early thirties and have already saved some money, maybe 30.000 or 40.000 euros,” Luiten explains further drawing attention to the wealth gap.
Many starters who can afford to buy a home use savings, money from their parents, a loan from their employer or a combination of these.
It is much easier for people who are older than 35 years old and who already have a home to purchase a new house. The amount of savings this group contributes to buying a new home has also increased, from 80.038 euros in 2017 to 203.011 euros in 2024.