House prices in the first three months of this year are up over 9% on a year ago, estate agents’ organisation NVM said on Thursday. At the same time, the supply side continues to shrink, said the NVM, which bases its calculations on signed but not completed deals by its members.

In total, NVM estate agents sold some 29,500 homes in the first three months of this year, 4% more than in the same period last year, but 18% down on the October to December period.  

Quarter on quarter, prices were virtually unchanged, with buyers paying an average of €432,000 for a property, although they rose nearly 2% in Amsterdam and 4.4% in Haarlem. The median house price was 0.1% less than in the last three months of 2023.

“The first quarter is traditionally quiet in terms of both sales and interest,” said the NVM’s housing chief Lana Gerssen. “Our members have noticed that more people are coming to look at homes on the market and the number of offers per property is rising too.”

NVM estate agents report that 55% of homes sold for above the asking price, with buyers paying an average of 1.8% more. “If interest rates and the state of the market are unchanged, we expect the average price paid to near €450,000 and approach or even break the record set in 2022 in the coming quarter,” Gerssen said. 

Higher wages and the slight drop in interest rates are helping to drive up prices, she said. 

NVM estate agents were also involved in selling more new build property. In total, they agreed deals for almost 7,000 new homes, a rise of 16% on the final quarter of last year and double the first quarter 2023 figure. New homes cost an average of €479,000. 

National statistics agency CBS said earlier this week that 16,600 new build homes were sold last year, the lowest total in five years.