House prices continued to fall in April, with a 4.4% drop in price when compared with April 2022, according to new figures from national statistics agency CBS and the land registry office Kadaster.

In March, the year-on-year drop was 2.3%.

The average price paid for an existing house has now fallen to €401,000 – down from €446,00 when the market was at its height in August 2022. The downward trend has been prompted by rising interest rates.

There were again fewer transactions in April – almost 13,000 in total, which is down 20% on a year ago. So far this year, 53,253 homes have changed hands, a decline of 11% on the same period last year.

The figures reflect completed transactions and lag behind statistics published by estate agents organisation NVM which said last month house prices were down 8.2% in the first quarter of the year.