The Netherlands: Will house price rises ever stop?

Five months into 2021, and the Dutch housing market is showing no sign of slowing down and economists have already raised their initial forecast of a 5% rise in prices this year to 7.5%.

However, says Expat Mortgages’ Henk Jansen, given that interest rates are still dropping, and the shortage of properties on the market, the increase in the average price rise could be even higher this year.

‘This is only making it more difficult for people to get a foot on the housing ladder unless they have a decent amount of savings or money from their parents,’ says Henk. In the Netherlands, parents can give their children a gift of up to €100,000 to help them buy a home.

International workers too tend to have more savings – because unlike the Dutch they are used to saving to buy a house – and some have well-paying jobs, so they are still well placed to buy, Henk says.

With interest rates still coming down as banks try to increase their market share, Henk says he is waiting for the first mortgage with a negative or zero interest rate to come on the market. ‘It’s already there in Denmark,’ he points out.