Prices existing owner-occupied houses drop further

Prices of existing owner-occupied houses sold in December were on average 5.3 percent lower than in December 2008. The price drop has increased again after three months of decline. In November, houses were 4.7 percent cheaper than one year previously. 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 December 2008. With 4.3 percent, prices of flats fell the least. Prices of detached and semi-detached houses – which are usually more expensive – dropped most by 7.2 and 6.1 percent respectively.

Across all provinces, house prices were lower than one year ago. The most substantial price reduction was recorded in the provinces of Friesland and North Brabant (6.0 percent). With 3.7 percent, house prices fell the least in the province of Groningen.

Compared to November 2009, prices of existing residential property were 0.4 percent lower. Price developments in the provinces provide a mixed picture. In Overijssel and Zeeland, prices were about 1.5 percent higher than one month ago. In North Holland and Utrecht, prices were 1.5 percent down. Price developments in the other provinces were somewhere in between.

Over 15 thousand existing houses were sold in December 2009, a decrease by 8 percent relative to December 2008. The decrease is much smaller than in the first eleven months of 2009. This is partly due to the fact that the number of transactions had already declined considerably in December 2008.
Over the entire year 2009, the number of houses sold totalled 127 thousand, i.e. 30 percent fewer than in 2008, when 182 thousand transactions were recorded.

Prices of owner-occupied dwellings

More figures can be found on the theme page Prices.