The average sales price of a house in the Netherlands reached a new record high of €288,000 in the second quarter of 2018. But the new high was boosted partially by the scarcity of houses to sell, the Dutch estate agents association NVM said on Thursday.

The NVM expects house prices to increase by a further 8% to 10% this year. It is forecasting average house prices will start out at €300,000 early next year.

But there are sharp regional differences, the NVM said. The market in The Hague, Amsterdam, Almere, Groningen and their leafy suburbs is described as ‘overheated’ while those in less populated regions as ‘relaxed’.

In Amsterdam, which has seen successive quarters of unbridled growth, prices jumped another 19% in the second quarter of this year. Prices in The Hague and Tilburg were 18% higher compared to the 2017 period, the NVM said.

Sales numbers down

Total sales numbers in the second quarter were between 7% and 10% lower. The buying pattern has changed.  

Not wanting to be stuck in their present cramped accommodations, as many as 70% of the buyers are first purchasing a new house before putting their current home on the market, the NVM said.

Meanwhile, according to new CBS figures, housing prices in the Netherlands rose by 9.3% in the first quarter of 2018, nearly twice as high as the average price gain elsewhere in Europe.

It said the price for new housing was 11.2% higher in the first quarter year-on-year while the cost for existing housing rose by 9%.