Housing prices in the Netherlands rose by 9.3% in the first quarter of 2018.

The increase was nearly twice as high as the average price gain elsewhere in Europe, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

The CBS and the land registry carried out a survey of the market, which revealed also that the asking price of newly-built housing units was more expensive than for existing housing stock.

It said the price for new housing was 11.2% higher in the first quarter year-on-year while the cost for existing housing rose by 9%.

The average price for a new housing unit was €350,000 in the first quarter of 2018, €90,000 more than a similar unit three years earlier. The average price of an existing house rose by only €60,000 in the same period, the CBS said.