Home owners who bought their property in 2008 when house prices were at their height will make an average loss of over €81,000 if they sell their property now, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

House prices have fallen by an average €51,000 since 2008 and households spent a further €31,000 on legal fees and doing up their property, the paper says. It bases its claims on figures from the Kadaster land registry office.
University of Amsterdam professor Johan Conijn estimates some 700,000 households would make a loss if they sold their home tomorrow. ‘And that figure is rising sharply because house prices are continuing to fall,’ he told the paper.
Many people who are forced to sell their home because of divorce or unemployment are now faced with finding tens of thousands of euros to pay off the negative equity.
Mortgage rules have become much stricter since 2008 when banks were willing to extend interest-only mortgages of up to 110% of the value of the property.
The national estate agents’ organisation NVM is due to publish new figures on the housing market later on Thursday.
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