Housing market figures in the third quarter of 2021

The housing market frenzy continues! 
Strong decrease in houses offered; prices rise 19% nationally.

The number of houses for sale and the number of houses sold in the Netherlands have decreased once again. This is evident from the housing market figures for the third quarter of 2021. With over 32,000 homes sold in the Netherlands in the third quarter, this is a drop of approximately 29% compared to the same period last year. This is the lowest number of homes sold since 2015. With merely 16,500 homes up for sale – which is 44% less than a year ago – dissatisfaction among house hunters continues to rise. The increased scarcity is once again giving rise to sharp price increases as well as the percentage of overbids on the asking price for homes. The average selling price of an existing home rose in the third quarter to € 419,000 and that of a newly-built home to € 455,000. Compared to the third quarter of 2020, this is an increase of over 19% for an existing home and 14% for a newly-built one.

Again, the figures presented do not paint a rosy picture. Although it is nice for sellers to be able to realise their surplus value, many people hold off putting their current home up for sale because they do not expect to find a new suitable home. This not only stalls the flow within the owner-occupier market but also between the rental and owner-occupier market. Hence, access to the housing market is becoming increasingly difficult for larger groups. This divides society between home owners and home seekers even further. Fortunately, the housing shortage was finally recognised as an issue Now it’s time to turn these words into deeds. when the Dutch government revealed its annual budget in September, known in the Netherlands as Prinsjesdag. The NVM reaffirmed on this day that house hunters must be offered a new perspective, which is why NVM has listed the most important points for the coalition agreement. The text by NVM can be seamlessly inserted into the agreement. This will result in both regional performance agreements with other governments as well as a package on deregulation, local knowledge development, alleviating nitrogen measures and a more uniform tax structure.

The third quarter of 2021 shows ground-breaking figures. The average selling price in the Netherlands rose again by just over 19%. Meanwhile, 80% of the homes are sold above the asking price. It is therefore clear that the housing market is still a chaotic one. However, certain conditions bear some responsibility for this: mortgage interest rates are extremely low, savings are higher than ever and the economy is rapidly developing. For the homebuyer, this is favourable and it creates confidence. In this tight market, NVM sees buyers deliberately offering high prices in order to outbid other buyers; some offer a price that even makes us raise our eyebrows. That is not a situation the NVM estate agents are really happy with. As NVM estate agents, we are increasingly having to disappoint more people than we can make happy. Every quarter, the NVM draws attention to the housing shortage and urges quick, smart and customised construction of new homes. The NVM is now hammering on it again: a supply-demand balance opens up the market, generates development and new balance. That means building more houses instead of flats. And it also means giving smaller communities the opportunity to create a favourable supply of housing.

For sale
The number of houses up for sale in the Netherlands is no less than 44% lower than a year ago. The drop is greatest for detached houses; this has decreased by 55% in one year. The NVM is now seeing stagnation in the flow of houses throughout the housing market, further limiting consumers’ options. For terraced houses and flats in the Netherlands, the decline is less steep, at around 36% within a year. The areas central, eastern and southern Netherlands recorded the largest year-on-year decrease in houses for sale. In the Veluwe, southwest Overijssel, Het Gooi and the Vecht region, the number of homes offered has halved in a year.

Existing housing construction in figures in the Netherlands
o Over 32,000 homes were sold in the third quarter of 2021, almost 29% less than in the third quarter of 2020; the lowest number for six years. On an annual basis, NVM estate agents sold more than 149,000 houses.
o The transaction price in the third quarter of 2021 was € 419,000, an annual increase of over 19%. This is slightly lower than the increase in the previous quarter.
The price of terraced houses has risen the most: 20.5% in one year to € 366,000; flats are the cheapest type of house; the price rose in one year by over 18% to € 351,000. Detached houses recorded an average of € 633,000, also an increase of over 18%.
Some 80% of the homes were sold above the asking price, with an average of 8.6% of all homes sold above the asking price. For terraced houses, this is an average of 10.7% more and detached houses sold for an average of 4.1% above the asking price.
It now takes an average of 23 days for a house to sell. This is 1 day shorter than the previous quarter, making it the shortest period ever.

Houses currently on the market in the Netherlands
The Dutch housing market remains unprecedentedly tight with an indicator of 1.5.
Recording the number of houses for sale started in 1995. At the end of the third quarter of 2021, there were over 16,500 houses for sale compared to 29,500 a year ago. This is the lowest number ever since 1995 and 44% less than a year ago.
The supply of detached houses declined most rapidly, by 55% compared to a year earlier. The number of terraced houses and flats up for sale declined slightly less, by about 36% in one year.
The asking price for the average house on the market was € 480,000, an increase of 6.4% compared to the third quarter of 2020. This increase is levelling out somewhat; for a long time, the percentage was above 10%.
The duration of the offer, i.e. the average time in days a house is for sale, is now 45 days. This is more than one month shorter than in the third quarter of 2020, when the duration was 87 days. Nearly 75% of all homes for sale are offered for less than a quarter; a year ago, this was still 60%.

New homes in the Netherlands
In the third quarter of 2021, NVM estate agents sold almost 8,000 new homes and building plots. This is a drop of 15% compared to a year earlier, and the upward trend has stopped.
At 7,400, the number of new homes on the market was no less than 28% lower than a year earlier.
Half of what is up for sale consists of flats, but the greatest demand is for ground-level houses. This is also reflected in how fast they are sold: 75% of houses were sold within three months of the start of sales. For flats, the figure is only 50%.
The price of the average newly-built home sold has risen by 13.6% in one year to an average of € 455,000 in the third quarter of 2021.

Fewer homes (29.7%, 956 homes) were sold in the third quarter of 2021 in The Hague compared to the third quarter of 2020. Compared to the previous quarter, 17.2% fewer houses were sold. The average transaction price in the third quarter of 2021 was € 433,000. Compared to a year ago, the average transaction price rose by 20.5%, and by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter. The average selling time in The Hague in the third quarter of 2021 was 24 days versus 31 days a year ago. The percentage of houses sold above the asking price in the third quarter of 2021 was 76%.

o In Wassenaar, the number of sales fell by 26.3% (87 houses) compared to the third quarter of 2020, and 21% fewer houses were sold compared to the previous quarter. Prices rose by 22% compared to a year ago and by 4% compared to the previous quarter. The average transaction price currently stands at € 975,000. The average selling time is 65 days versus 72 days a year ago. The percentage of homes sold above the asking price in the third quarter of 2021 is 49%.

Source: NVM