Mortgage trends in the Netherlands

The number of Dutch mortgages has grown, compared to the same quarter last year. In the third quarter of this year, 87.000 mortgages were taken out, that's four percent more than in Q3 of 2016.

Due to the multiplication in number and sum of Dutch mortgages, the mortgage turnover in the third quarter rose by six percent compared to the second quarter of 2017 and totalled 25,1 billion euros. With this figure, mortgage turnover is back to the levels it was at in 2008, and the record-high turnover of the last quarter of 2016 has been exceeded.

In terms of how the market and turnover was split in the third quarter, existing homeowners changing residences accounted for 56 percent of mortgage turnover, whilst first-time buyers and those re-mortgaging their homes contributed 24 percent and 20 percent respectively.

Difficult position

The average mortgage sum for those looking to buy a house in the Netherlands for the first-time has climbed to 232.000. However, despite the general increase in mortgages being taken out, the number of first-time buyers doing so has decreased by seven percent.

This decrease lends itself to the stricter loan standards and rising house prices; for instance, the average price for apartments, which are popular amongst first-time buyers, has risen by 11 percent. Conversely, existing homeowners changing residences seem to be profiting from the growing Dutch housing market.