Netherlands' house prices up 4.64% y-o-y in Q1 2019

The Netherlands’ house prices continue to rise, albeit at a slower pace, amidst falling demand, coupled with acute housing shortage. The average purchase price of all dwellings rose by 4.64% during the year to Q1 2019, a slowdown from the prior year’s 8.49% growth. On a quarterly basis, house prices were down 1.98% during the latest quarter.

Home sales are falling amidst supply shortages

In the first four months of 2019, the number of dwellings sold dropped by more than 5% to 64,734 units from a year earlier, following almost 10% decline in 2018, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The decline in sales was partly due to worsening supply shortages.

The housing shortage in the Netherlands was estimated at about 200,000 units this year.

Rents, rental yields: attractive yields for a developed economy at 3.7% to 6.4%

Amsterdam apartment costs are around €6,900 per sq. m.

Netherlands: typical city centre apartment buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
	Buying price	Rate per month	Yield
Amsterdam	€ 828,240	€ 2,569	3.72%
The Hague	€ 438,360	€ 2,050	5.61%

Recent news: The Dutch economy grew by 1.7% in Q1 2019 from a year earlier, mainly driven by higher investments in fixed assets and household consumption, according to CBS. The Netherlands' GDP is expected to grow by 1.6% annually in 2019 and 2020, a slowdown from expansions of 2.7% in 2018 and 2.9% in 2017, according to the European Commission.