House prices rose 11.5% in April, biggest rise in 20 years

House prices rose by an average of 11.5% in April, the biggest rise in 20 years, national statistics office CBS said on Friday, on the basis of land registry figures.

House prices have been rising steadily since 2013, when they hit a low point at the height of the financial crisis. Since then, the cost of buying an existing property has gone up by an average of 63.5%, the CBS said.

In total, 19,000 properties changed hands in April, roughly in line with developments in April 2020. In the first three months of this year there was a sharp rise in deals, but this may be due to the removal of property transfer tax for first time buyers under the age of 30, the CBS said.

The CBS will publish its next regional analysis in July. In March the agency said house prices rose by an average of 7.8% last year and the annual increase – 10.4% – was particularly notable in Groningen province.

Amsterdam showed the lowest rise of the four big cities at 4.7%, which was half that of Utrecht.