House prices in the Netherlands fell 1% between October and November, the fourth month in a row that they have gone down, according to the latest figures from statistics agency CBS and the land registry Kadaster.

Year on year, house prices were up almost 5% on November 2021, the lowest year on year rise in over six years. In October the year on year increase was 7.8%.

House prices had been rising steadily since June 2013, at the height of the financial crisis, but that stopped in August. The average price paid for a house now is €423,124, down over €23,000 on four months ago.

The number of transactions also continues to decline. In total, 15,146 transactions were registered with the Kadaster in November, down 6% on a year ago. In the first 11 months of this year, 171,767 homes changed hands, which is a 16% drop on the same period last year.

Despite the fall in house prices, economists do not predict a major problem with negative equity, as happened during the financial crisis ten years ago.

The Dutch central bank said last week it expected house prices in the Netherlands to go down by 6.4% between now and the end of 2024, as higher interest rates and the cooling economy impact on buyers.

The bank said it did not expect negative equity to have major consequences, because many home owners have fixed their interest payments at a low rate for a longer period and because of rising salaries, which will allow buyers to borrow more.