House prices drop further

Prices of existing houses sold in March 2009 were on average 1.5 percent lower than twelve months previously. House prices fell for the second month in a row. The price reduction in February was the first since house prices are monitored on a regular basis (January 1995). This is shown by the price index of existing houses, a collective publication by Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry Office.

All types of existing homes were cheaper than in March 2008. Prices of flats declined most, by 2.6 percent. Prices of terraced houses declined the least, by 0.8 percent.

House prices rose only in the provinces of Drenthe, Utrecht and Zeeland. In the other provinces, prices dropped. The most substantial price reduction was recorded in Friesland, where prices were 3.8 percent down on one year previously.

Prices of existing houses were 0.9 percent lower than in February 2009. All types of homes became cheaper. Prices of semi-detached houses declined most substantially (2.2 percent).

For the fifth month in a row, the number of house sales was substantially lower than one year previously. The number of houses sold in March amounted to 9.6 thousand, a reduction by nearly 30 percent relative to March 2008. Sales declined considerably across all types of houses and all provinces.

Prices of owner-occupied dwellings