The sale of newly-built houses and flats fell by over one third in the third quarter of last year – the biggest drop since 2015, according to figures from national statistics bureau CBS, and the Kadaster land registry office.

Between July and September, some 5,000 new homes were sold, down 34% on the same period in 2021. By contrast number of existing properties to change hands fell by 6.4%.

The average new home was sold for almost €474,000, up nearly 14% on the same period in 2021 but down on the previous quarter, when new homes sold for an average of just over €500,000 for the first time, the CBS said.

Estate agents association NVM said last week that house prices in the Netherlands  dropped year-on-year for the first time in nine years in the final three months of 2022.

Mortgage advisory group De Hypotheker also said on Tuesday that the number of mortgage requests to buy a home dealt with by its agents rose 17% between October and December, when compared with the year earlier period.

The average amount borrowed fell to just under €300,000 for the first time in two years.

However, in total, the number of mortgages requested in the fourth quarter plummeted 46%, as fewer people applied to switch mortgages or borrow extra money to finance home improvements because of rising interest rates.

The number of mortgage requests fell 6% in 2022 as a whole. But there was a 5% rise in the number of requests from the under-35s, which is a ‘hopeful development’, De Hypotheker director Michel van den Akker said.