Less overbidding and more price reductions as Dutch housing market cools

The Dutch housing market has continued to cool, with overbidding occurring less frequently and more homes seeing their asking prices lowered. Higher mortgage interest rates and global uncertainty are behind the changes. 

Dutch house sales slow down

Figures from housing platform Huispedia have revealed that the number of housing transactions has dropped in recent months. In the first quarter of 2026, 65.000 homes were sold in the Netherlands, down 11,9 percent compared to the previous quarter.

Overbidding, while still very popular, occurred less often from January to March. When trying to buy a house, potential buyers bid more than the asking price in 71,4 percent of housing transactions - slightly lower than the 73 percent in the preceding period. 

The amount that people overbid by was also lower. Bids during Q1 were on average 4,7 percent above the asking price, compared to 5,2 percent in Q4 of 2025. A previous study found that internationals are more likely to overbid on a house, while locals usually overbid by a higher amount.

Homes with reduced asking price more common

Sellers are having to reduce the asking price for their houses more often. 12,8 percent of homes on the market in the last quarter of 2025 had price reductions and while this dropped slightly to 12,2 percent in Q1, it is still unusually high for the time of year. For example, price reductions in Q1 of 2025 happened for one in 10 homes on the market, while this year it was for one in eight homes.

Lowering the asking price is more common during the last months of a year because sellers want to complete a sale before the year ends. "The fact that this is holding up in the first quarter is very striking," Huispedia director Maxim Bours told AD. "Properties are simply becoming harder to sell, and that is why price reductions are necessary."

Rising mortgage interest rates cool Dutch housing market

One of the main reasons that houses are becoming harder to sell in the Netherlands is the rising mortgage interest rates due to the unrest in the Middle East. “This means that the average buyer's budget has quickly decreased by 10 thousand euros, leaving buyers with less opportunity to overbid,” said Bours. “At the same time, the unrest also creates uncertainty among buyers, which is reflected in the [lower] number of viewings per home for sale.”

Bours expects this cooling effect to be short-lived. Usually in spring, the housing market becomes busier and people start overbidding more often. Additionally, if interest rates start dropping again, buyers will have more money for overbidding once again.