Rental property prices continued to soar in the final three months of last year, as landlord sell-offs cut the number of mid-market properties available, according to new figures from Pararius.

The average price for a new tenancy in the non-rent-controlled sector is now €1,838 and the shortage of properties remains acute, the rental platform said on Wednesday.

Just 25% of the properties that became available in October, November and December had a rent below €1,500, but this is the segment where demand is strongest, Pararius said. A further 34% cost between €1,500 and €2,000 and 40% more than €2,000.

The most expensive category generated only 21% of the responses received by the platform from prospective tenants, highlighting the demand for cheaper homes. The market, said Pararius director Jasper de Groot “is becoming increasingly gridlocked”.

The average price per square metre was €20.65 in the fourth quarter, a rise of 8.3% on a year earlier. In Amsterdam, however, prices rose just over 9% to €28.68 per square metre. In the city centre, Zuid and West, private sector properties now cost more than €32 per square metre.

In Rotterdam, prices rose by more than 11% to an average of €22.35, while in Eindhoven new tenants faced rent rises of nearly 14%. The increase was more modest in Utrecht and The Hague, at around 5%.

The shortage of rental housing has been exacerbated by landlords selling off smaller properties to avoid tougher rent controls.

Land registry office Kadaster said in November that private landlords sold far more homes than they bought in the third quarter of 2025, continuing a trend that has already reduced the number of properties held by individual investors.

Investors sold 15,800 homes between July and September, up 37% on the same period last year, while buying just 6,000. In total, the private rental sector has shrunk by 11%, or 35,000 homes, over the past two years, the Kadaster said.