Housing price is closely related to ability of country leaders to attract investors and create jobs.

Well, I, for one, can't wait for prices to fall much more. I think NL is in a huge bubble. Homes are not selling, but owners are in denial about the worth of their house. Homeowners have been complaining about the small drops so far (8% or so), but I am hoping prices will drop a whole lot more!

The Dutch did it to themselves, risky investments in foreign banks..

'Sorry for the first time buyers, young couples with a child on the way :P - There will be a few that make a good profit from this slump, the banksters, undutchables, have so far managed to evade the law, kind of legalized crime with a government blessing..

this is very good news , glad sales are down even further. it will take a while before reduced sales reflect in further reduced prices .

Considering the decline of house prices and comparing with other european countries, residents paying rent have now the perfect opportunity to buy a house in the Netherlands.

See how much you pay per square meter in Amsterdam and compare with other capitals:
http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Europe/square-meter-prices

without sales the loans will not be paid. then the banks will need money. then the tax payers should give money to the bank in order to save them.

I hope this case is not similar to the USA crysis on morgages in 2007.

The continuous uncertainty around tax changes are keeping he market closed. The valueof pproperty does not seem to be that overrated, just the very low sales number created a cloud here. If government creates a stable bill related to housing the market will quickly recover. The Dutch property
Prices are ceatesd by a scarcety in constduction land icw a mismatch is the types lf hluses build vs requiered.

In this way the renting price will go over the roof. People still need a place to stay: if they can't buy they have to rent.
That's not a good scenario either

@Robert There's a small catch here. the 8% drop they say is the national average. In some places, the prices are falling faster than in some others. In some places, the prices have dropped very little and in a few places, the drop has been negligible. In the first category of heavy drops is Groeningen. In the last category of very little drop is Amsterdam and the Gooi. No marks for guessing in which category locality all of us expats would like to buy a house.

...consider also that house internals in the Netherlands are on average among of the lowest quality levels in Europe How can spmeone spend so many thousands of Euros to buy houses with: low ceelings, plastic floors, plastic doors, cheap bathrooms, plastic kitchens, single windows (still on 2012!). Problem is that on average Dutch people have NEVER invested in a proper rennovation of their houses but now of course they expect a big tournover from the sale of their home!

As a home owner I hope house prices do not drop. I would prefer to see the economy recover so that more people can afford the current house prices and the demand for homes is renewed.

@A Nonny Mouse, a lot of people here profited hugely from the ever increasing prices due to the Euro bubble. Apparantly, on the day the guilders changes to Euros, home sellers just replaced the currency sign without converting the amounts. All those people made twice the money overnight. Problem is, is that sustainable? the market is showing its not. I'm not saying that prices will crash here as the EU has brought with it increased prosperity.. but simply changing the signs resulted in a price hike race that must now slowly correct itself.

A recovered economy doesn't make wages suddenly double so that someone can suddenly afford a house, A Nonny Mouse. It just means one may make 30% more in wages in the transition from temporary benefits to a salary. If they couldn't afford it before the economy crashed, they won't now either.

@Marco:

do you really think people who put an innocent 2 year child in a wood basket in front of their bike and ride in wind and rain in front of a bus full of people forcing the bus to go effectively at 15km/hour really care bout house internal quality?

no they don't. they are used to this way of life. it is their choice. we can only avoid putting our money into their concrete boxes.

It's a lose-lose situation unless you're sitting on a savings account with six figures in it. I live in the Jordaan, where prices obviously haven't dropped that much, but we bought it when it was a seller's market and prices were high. We won't sell now because we don't want to take a loss, so instead we're renovating to increase the value. By the time we're ready to sell, we might make a small profit, but by that time it'll be a seller's market again and we'll be paying inflated prices for a new home because there will be an inevitable housing shortage again because of the current lack of construction/new builds, stringent financing rules, etc.