Is the end of the boom in sight? House prices in Amsterdam drop slightly

House prices in Amsterdam were down 0.5 % in the third quarter of 2017, compared with the three months to end June, the Financieele Dagblad said on Thursday, quoting figures from real estate agency association NVM.

The price of terraced homes fell by as much as 7% compared with the second quarter, the NVM figures show. Terraced homes are particularly common in parts of Noord, Zuid-Oost and Nieuw-West, all areas of the city that had been booming.

‘We may have reached the top of the market,’ Sven Heinen, chair of the Amsterdam association told the paper. House prices in the capital have risen steadily since the end of 2013, with annual increases of up to 25%.

‘Many people find it impossible to pay the current prices,’ he said. The average asking price for a home in Amsterdam is now €506,000, according to the NVM figures.

Year on year, Amsterdam house prices are still up 17% in the third quarter, but the number of transactions has also fallen 17%.

Nationwide, the number of transactions fell 5% overall, but prices rose by an average of 2% quarter on quarter. There were notable drops in the number of homes changing hands in Leiden and Delft, the NVM said.

House prices were up nearly 19% in Leiden compared with last year and rose 18% in The Hague and 17.5% in Almere.