Fall in house prices levelling off

Prices of houses (excl. new construction) sold in September were on average 5.3 percent lower than in September 2008. The decrease is slightly smaller than in August, when houses were 5.6 percent cheaper than a year before. House prices have been consistently lower than twelve months previously since February 2009. The figures are published in the price index of existing houses, a joint publication by Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry Office.

All types of existing homes were cheaper than in September 2008. The smallest decrease in prices was recorded for terraced houses: 4.1 percent. Prices of detached and semi-detached houses dropped most dramatically, by 6.4 and 6.8 percent respectively.

House prices were lower in all provinces. The most substantial price reduction was recorded in Gelderland, where prices were 7.0 percent down. For the fourth month in a row, the fall in prices was smallest in the province of Zeeland, at 0.7 percent.

Compared to August 2009, prices of existing houses were a fraction down. Homes were cheaper than in August in half of the provinces.

More than 10.4 thousand existing houses were sold in September 2009, 32 percent fewer than in September 2008. Sales declined considerably for all types of houses and in all provinces. The number of detached houses sold recorded the largest drop (42 percent), flats and apartments the smallest (28 percent).
However, compared to August 2009, the total number of sales increased by 9 percent.

Prices of owner-occupied dwellings

More figures can be found on the theme page Prices.