The housing market is becoming less accessible to the public and while sellers find it easy to dispose of their homes, first-time buyers are being left behind, according to estate agents organisation NVM.

This means that there are fewer houses for sale and average price rises are going up sharply, particularly in places where the market is overheating, such as Amsterdam.

‘Developments in places with serious shortages, like Amsterdam, and in the heart of student cities are worrying,’ NVM chairman Ger Jaarsma said in a statement.

NYM members accounted for 41,000 homes changing hands in the third quarter of this year, a rise of 15% on a year ago. The organisation says in total some 53,500 homes were sold in the period July to September.

Average prices were up 7.4% on a year ago at €240,000 and 1.3% up on the previous quarter but there were strong regional variations. In Amsterdam, for example, prices have risen 22% over the past year.

Prices also rose around 20% in Utrecht, Zuid-Kennemerland, Waterland and Zaanstad.

Bubble

Last month, banking group UBS said the housing market in Amsterdam is over-valued and edging close to being a real estate bubble risk.

The sharpest increase in the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index in Europe over the last year was measured in Stockholm, followed by Munich, London and Amsterdam.

House price growth in Amsterdam accelerated to an ‘unsustainable rate’ of almost 15% over the last year, the report said.