The effect of the government’s decision to cut the property transfer tax from 6% of the purchase price to 2% appears to have only marginally lifted house sales, according to the national estate agents’ association NVM.

There was a 4% increase in sales in the third quarter, when the tax cut came into effect, but this is well below the forecast 10% rise, the NVM said. And in September, sales were particularly disappointing.
There are now some 217,000 houses for sale in the Netherlands.