Utrecht leads house price rise chart, NHG maximum also goes up

House prices were up 11.4% in September compared with last year, national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday.

Compared with August, the rise was 0.9%, the CBS said.

The figures are below those published earlier this month by estate agents organisation NVM which said prices rose 12.3% between July and September, when compared with last year, reaching an average of €473,000.

The NVM also put the quarterly rise at 0.4% and said that means prices appear to be stabilising. The CBS figures are based on completed rather than agreed sales and tend to lag behind the NVM figures.

The biggest increase was in the city of Utrecht, where prices rose 18.4% over the year, the CBS said. In Amsterdam the rise was 10.1%, in The Hague 9.9% and in Rotterdam 8.9%.

More houses and apartments also found a new owner in the previous quarter, with 54,147 homes changing hands. That is up 15.3% on the same period in 2023. The average price paid was €466,890.

On Monday it emerged that the maximum price buyers can pay for a house with an NHG guarantee will go up to €450,000 next year.

The NHG is a government scheme that covers homeowners’ losses if they have to sell their house for less than the outstanding mortgage because of divorce, illness or unemployment.

Buyers pay a surcharge of 0.7% on their mortgage to cover the cost of the scheme, but are often able to borrow at lower rates because of the reduced risk.