House prices in the Netherlands are notoriously high, and while many may have expected (or even hoped) that the ongoing coronavirus crisis would have led to a dip in the housing market, the reality is that prices continue to rise, breaking record after record.
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports that, in May 2021, the price of owner-occupied homes (not new builds) rose by a staggering 12,9 percent compared to the same period last year. This growth marks the sharpest increase since April 2001, and breaks the record of 11,5 percent which was set in April of this year.
In Amsterdam, while rental properties have experienced a drop in price thanks to the coronavirus crisis, house prices rose by 3,8 percent in the first quarter of 2021, in comparison to the last quarter of 2020, and prices were 1 percent higher than a year earlier.
Experts attribute this increase to the extensive financial support packages that were made available by the Dutch government, and point out that as travel was not possible and shops and restaurants were closed for months on end, members of the public were able to cut spending and start saving. They are now using these funds to buy a house.
CBS has also noted that the number of house sales that took place had dropped since last May. According to the Land Registry, 16.126 homes were sold in May 2021, 12,1 percent less than a year earlier. Between January and May of this year, almost 102.000 homes changed hands.