The Netherlands may be hit by a third financial crisis, this time caused by problems in the property sector, the Dutch central bank’s regulatory chief Jan Sijbrand says in Friday’s Financieele Dagblad.

‘Property is a problem for the sector because there is a structural surplus supply of offices and retail premises. And there is less demand because of new ways of working and internet shopping,’ Sijbrand told the paper.
Banks, pension funds and insurance companies have billions of euros invested in commercial property.
Valuations
The sector will have to work fast to ensure accurate commercial property valuations, he said. ‘As long as there are doubts about the value there will be no confidence in the market and financiers and investors will not come forward,’ Sijbrand told the paper.
One option would be to put weak property portfolios into a ‘bad bank’ owned by the government, he said, adding that he doubted taxpayers would support this option.
Last year, property fund Uni Invest failed to sell its office property portfolio despite a 40% discount.
Warning
Last year, the financial services authority AFM warned investors to be careful when putting money into non-listed property funds because a number are currently under investigation for providing misleading information.
The property sector is currently dealing with rising vacancy rates and reduced rents, coupled with refinancing problems. This means many funds are in trouble and investors are facing higher risks.