Mortgage data network HDN reports that there was a 5% rise in the number of mortgage requests to buy homes in the third quarter this year, a further indication that the market in the Netherlands is changing.

Although the total number of new mortgage requests has gone down by almost 14%, that was entirely due to the downturn in people switching mortgage to take advantage of lower interest rates – now that they are going up again.

In particular, the number of first time buyers requesting a mortgage rose 37% in the second quarter to almost 10,500, HDN said.

On Monday, mortgage advisory group De Hypotheeker also noted a downturn in remortgaging but said there had been a 13% rise in youngsters buying a property.

2022 is the last year that parents can give their children €100,000 tax free to help buy a home.

Despite expectations that the number of transactions would slow because of the overheated market and rising interest rates, this has not yet materialised HDN said.

However, buyers are borrowing less – an average of €332,800 in the third quarter, which is down 4.4% on a year ago.