House prices are falling less once again

According to the price index of existing private residential property – a joint publication by Statistics Netherlands and the Land Registry Office – prices of houses sold in July 2010 were down by an average of 0.9 percent compared to July 2009. During the first seven months of 2010, the downward trend has levelled off.

Prices of end-of-terrace houses were about the same as in July 2009. All other types of existing owner-occupied homes were cheaper than one year previously. Prices of detached houses – usually in the higher price range – fell most substantially, i.e. by 2.0 percent.

House prices did not drop across all provinces. In Utrecht, Friesland and Groningen, prices were higher than one year previously, in Friesland house prices rose for the fourth month in a row.

In July 2010, house prices were 0.6 percent up on the preceding month. This applied to all provinces except Zeeland, North Brabant and Limburg, where prices were approximately the same as one month previously.

Over 12 thousand existing houses were sold in July, a decrease of 7.5 percent compared to July 2009. Sales dropped for all types of houses, except for detached houses. Yet, the number of houses sold in the first seven months of 2010 was higher than in the same period one year previously.

Prices of existing own homes

More figures can be found on the theme page Prices.