Dutch housing market: summer trends and opportunities for buyers

It’s summertime! But before you rush off on holiday, listen to a few wise words from Richardo Cruz Fortes – Team lead of Sales – because this is your best chance this year to get stuck into house hunting.

“Our clients are especially successful in buying a house when it’s holiday season, which is now!” says Richardo. “When other people are going off camping, they are not focusing on buying at all. But for internationals, this is the most successful moment to purchase a house.”

So, if you have a week or two between trips or you are staying in the Netherlands for the summer, get on the phone and arrange some viewings. With the uncertainty in global markets right now, a solid offer could be very appealing to Dutch house sellers and if everyone else is on holiday, there’s less competition.

Market update

There’s good news for buyers: more houses have come onto the market as private landlords are selling up. This means, particularly if you are looking for a smaller apartment, there is a lot of choice. It has also had an effect on house prices.

There are two indicators for house prices in the Netherlands. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) measures all property prices at the moment when the keys are handed over. These prices have grown just over 10% year-on-year since 2024.

But the largest association of estate agents, NVM, also measures prices at the time when its agents (70% of all agents) sign a sales contract. This is typically six weeks to three months before the property handover and it gives an indication of trends right now.

In its quarterly report last week, NVM said more houses came onto the market between April and June than at any time since 2008. It also found that price rises have slowed: the median house has increased in value by 6.2% year-on-year. In Amsterdam, the median price has dropped by 0.4%.

“The good news for home buyers is that we’ve never had so many houses for sale since the financial crisis,” says Richardo. “A lot more people are interested in buying, but also a lot more properties are available to purchase. It’s still not a situation where you can negotiate the price of a house in most scenarios. Nevertheless, you do have more options.”

Mortgage interest rates have also stabilised and most economists predict house prices will continue to rise because wages are increasing in the Netherlands.

More mortgages

The HDN network of mortgages confirms this: more people have been asking for a mortgage, especially in big cities.

In the second quarter of 2025, 140,000 people asked for a new mortgage, an increase on last year. Many people are moving into “average” priced homes of around €500,000, reported HDN. This matches the picture of buy-to-let landlords selling up because of new legislation to improve renter rights and increase price controls.

But there were also more people extending their mortgage to rebuild their homes or make them more energy efficient. According to HDN, 25,000 requests were from homeowners to increase their mortgage – and if you are nervous about buying a new home, this option is worth considering.

“We had a few years where people were a bit cautious, because they expected or wished for the interest rates to decrease significantly or for house prices to decrease,” says Richardo. “But now everybody sees that the housing market is still going very well.”

As ever, the key thing is to be prepared: make sure you know what you can borrow, research the area (including for rainfall risks and subsidence), consider using the services of an estate agent to negotiate for you, and start looking! “I am 100% positive!” says Richardo.