The Dutch mortgage market has reached its highest level since the start of the financial crisis eight years ago, consultancy IG&H said on Monday.

In the second quarter of this year, the average mortgage reached €258,000, a figure which has not been topped since 2008, the consultancy said. The total market reached €18.7bn, a rise of 29% on a year ago.

The market is being driven by both home owners moving up the property ladder and people switching mortgages to take advantage of record low interest rates.

Rabobank and ABN Amro both managed to increase their market share in the second quarter but ING lost 1.7%. Nevertheless, the three big Dutch banks control 51.5% of the market, IG&H said.

Pension funds and insurance companies have seen their share of the total market shrink from 36% at the start of the year to 30% by end June.