Houses are becoming more and more expensive

House prices have risen sharply, between 2016 and 2019 the Land Registry/CBS's Existing House Price Index rose by an average of almost 8% per year. The report: 'State of the housing market - written on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior - shows that the rise in house prices has continued throughout 2019. Due in part to economic growth, tightness on the housing market and low interest rates, house prices increased by 6.9% to an average price of 308 thousand euros.

The average amount for which a house changes hands increased by 45% compared to 2013 when an average 213 thousand euros was paid for a house. The 2019 trend continued in the first quarter of 2020. The average purchase price of registered sold homes in the first quarter of 2020 is 326 thousand euros, which is 7.8% more compared to the same period last year. CBS figures confirm this trend and indicate that the price development of existing owner-occupied houses has increased year on year. Over the past four years, house prices have risen on average between 6% and 9%.

The price of the average newly built house sold has increased by 10% in one year to an average of 388,000 euros in Q4 2019. New construction homes have increased in price faster than existing homes in recent years. Research by EIB shows that this difference can largely be explained by the different composition of existing and new homes sold in terms of location and size, and by the higher requirements for sustainability and quality of new construction.