The new home market has crashed harder than expected. In the fourth quarter of last year, sales fell by more than half. This is the strongest drop in seven years.
This was reported by Statistics Netherlands, partly on the basis of figures from Kadaster and Eurostat, the European statistical office.
The number of transactions in new homes has fallen the fastest over the past year. In the fourth quarter, more than 5,300 sales were made, 50.6 percent fewer than a year earlier. This is the largest drop since the measurement began in 2015.
The number of existing owner-occupied home sales decreased by 2.8 percent to more than 51,000 homes. This decrease was lower than in previous quarters.
The Confederation of Dutch Project Development Companies (NEEPROM) predicted at the end of last month that new construction sales would halve this year, but it seems they actually halved in the last quarter of last year.
absence of security
New starter homes are still selling, but the more expensive homes are no longer selling. Uncertainty about the housing market in particular is making buyers hesitant. Anyone who signs a new home purchase agreement today has to wait one and a half to three years for the house to be ready. Those who still have to sell their old home are no longer sure of the returns, as they have been in recent years. If house prices drop, it could mean a huge chunk of the budget.
According to mortgage provider Frits, some buyers are in trouble because of this. Smaller mortgage lenders in particular do not take sufficient consideration of the declining housing market when offering temporary mortgages. Fritz has clients with a lower than expected budget of up to €22,000.
Existing homes are dropping in price, while new construction is becoming more expensive due to inflation and rising wage costs
NVM will release new market figures on Thursday. The Association of Realtors has previously warned that new construction is also becoming increasingly difficult due to falling existing home prices, while new construction is becoming increasingly expensive due to inflation and increasing wage costs.
In the last quarter of 2022, the price of a new owner occupied home was 6.1 percent higher than in the same quarter in the previous year. The average selling price of a new owner-occupied home is approximately €468,000. The median sale price of an existing owner-occupied home was lower than the median price of a new owner-occupied home in the fourth quarter and was around €416,000.
Watch all of our videos about the economy here:
Unlimited free access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
“Lifelong zombie fanatic. Hardcore web practitioner. Thinker. Music expert. Unapologetic pop culture scholar.”