House prices in March were up 10.6% compared with the same period last year, but the month-on-month increase was just 0.7%, national statistics agency CBS said on Tuesday.

The average price paid for a home was €467,873, although there were wide regional variations.

In total, the land registry office recorded over 17,000 transactions, a rise of 6% on the year. In the first three months of the year, however, the number of transactions was up almost 16%.

The biggest annual price rise was in Utrecht, where homes now cost an average of 14% more. In Amsterdam, prices were up just 6.4% on the year, but the number of transactions soared by over 23%.

This, experts say, is the result of a wave of sales of small rental properties in the capital as landlords seek to avoid the impact of tougher rent controls and higher taxes. Nationwide, there was a 30% increase in the number of apartments coming onto the market.

Dutch happiest with housing in Europe

Meanwhile, research carried out on behalf of European real estate agents body Re/Max Europe suggests the Dutch are more satisfied with their living conditions than people in any other European country.

Just 16% of respondents in the Netherlands said they planned to move in the near future, while 84% said they were happy with the quality of their home. In Britain, by contrast, 20% said they would like to move, and in Spain the figure was 21%.

Earlier this month, CBS published research suggesting 3.6 million of the 8.4 million Dutch households wanted to move home but also that 84% were satisifed with where they now live.

The Re/Max research also found that people spend nearly 40% of their monthly income on rent or a mortgage and utility bills. In the Netherlands, however, 75% said they felt financially comfortable with their living situation – well above the European average.

Just 8% of Dutch respondents said they owned a second property – the lowest proportion in the 20 countries surveyed. At the top of the list was Bulgaria, where 46% of homeowners had at least two properties in their name.