House price drop less substantial

Prices of existing owner-occupied houses sold in November were on average 4.7 percent down on November 2008. The price drop is less substantial than in October, when houses were 5.2 percent cheaper than one year previously. Until September, prices of owner-occupied houses dropped faster and faster, but since September, the price drop has levelled off. This is shown by the price index of existing owner-occupied houses, a joint publication by Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry Office.

All types of existing owner-occupied houses were cheaper than in November 2008. With 3.4 percent, prices of corner houses fell the least. Prices of detached and semi-detached houses, which are usually relatively expensive, dropped most, i.e. by more than 6 percent.

House prices were lower across all provinces. The most substantial price reduction was recorded in Flevoland (5.9 percent). With 3.4 percent, house prices fell the least in the province of Zeeland.

Compared to October 2009, prices of existing residential property were 0.3 percent lower. In Limburg, Groningen and Friesland, prices were higher than one month ago. In the other provinces, residential property was cheaper.

Almost 10 thousand existing houses were sold in November 2009, a 14 percent decrease relative to November 2008. The decrease is much smaller than in the first ten months of 2009, when the number of houses sold was invariably 25 to 50 percent lower than one year previously.

Sales declined considerably for all types of residential property. The number of detached houses sold in November fell the most (20 percent), the number of flats sold in November fell the least (11 percent).

Prices of owner-occupied dwellings

More figures can be found on the theme page Prices.