House prices almost 8 percent higher in May

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In May 2020, prices of owner-occupied dwellings (excluding new constructions) were on average 7.7 percent up on the same month last year. This price increase is higher than in the previous months. This is evident from price monitoring of existing owner-occupied dwellings by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and The Netherlands’ Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency.

Price development of existing owner-occupied dwellings
YearMonthChange (year-on-year % change)
2016June4.6
2016July4.9
2016August6
2016September5.9
2016October5.6
2016November6
2016December6.7
2017January6.4
2017February6.7
2017March7.3
2017April7.4
2017May7.8
2017June8
2017July7.6
2017August7.8
2017September7.3
2017October8.2
2017November8.2
2017December8.2
2018January8.8
2018February9.5
2018March8.6
2018April8.8
2018May8.9
2018June8.9
2018July9
2018August9.3
2018September9.3
2018October9
2018November9.5
2018December8.4
2019January8.7
2019February7.5
2019March7.7
2019April7.7
2019May7.2
2019June6.9
2019July7
2019August5.7
2019September6.1
2019October6.3
2019November5.8
2019December6.5
2020January6.3
2020February6.6
2020March7
2020April7.3
2020May7.7
Source: CBS, Kadaster

House prices show upward trend

House prices reached a record high in August 2008 and subsequently started to decline, reaching a low in June 2013. The trend has been upward since then. In May 2018, the price index of owner-occupied dwellings exceeded the record level of August 2008 for the first time. In May 2020, house prices reached the highest level ever. Compared to the low in June 2013, house prices were up by 47.8 percent on average in that month.

Price index of existing owner-occupied dwellings
YearMonth(2015=100) (2015=100)
2016June104.3
2016July105.5
2016August106.4
2016September107.2
2016October107
2016November107.5
2016December107.9
2017January108.9
2017February109.3
2017March110.5
2017April110.9
2017May111.7
2017June112.5
2017July113.5
2017August114.6
2017September115
2017October115.8
2017November116.4
2017December116.8
2018January118.6
2018February119.7
2018March120.1
2018April120.6
2018May121.7
2018June122.5
2018July123.7
2018August125.4
2018September125.7
2018October126.2
2018November127.4
2018December126.6
2019January128.8
2019February128.7
2019March129.2
2019April129.8
2019May130.4
2019June130.9
2019July132.4
2019August132.5
2019September133.4
2019October134.1
2019November134.8
2019December134.8
2020January136.9
2020February137.2
2020March138.3
2020April139.3
2020May140.4
Source: CBS, Kadaster

Number of housing transactions down in May

According to figures by The Netherlands’ Cadastre, the total number of dwellings sold in the month of May 2020 stood at 18,347. This is 6.9 percent less than in May 2019. In the first five months of this year, 88,780 dwellings were sold. This is an increase of over 5 percent relative to the same period in 2019.

Figures for the reporting month of May do not yet or hardly reflect the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. This is because the figures are based on notarial deeds of transfer. A large number of provisional property agreements were most likely concluded before the coronavirus crisis broke out in the Netherlands.