While 77% of the Netherlands’ international population bid more than the asking price when trying to buy a property, compared with 70% of the Dutch, they actually overbid by a lower amount, according to a survey by real estate agency Viisi.

Politicians from across the political spectrum have blamed international workers for pushing up house prices at the expense of locals, but the Viisi survey shows they overbid the asking price by an average of 7.6%, compared with 9.3% for native Dutch buyers.

The survey involved 927 “expats” and 1,923 Dutch clients.

Mortgage adviser Andrew Aziz said that internationals are more likely than locals to employ an estate agent to help them through the process.

“Some 61% employ an agent, compared with 47% of the Dutch,” he said. Agents have “better insight into the market value of a property and advise their clients to overbid by 6%, for example, rather than 8%.”

The survey also showed that 70% of Viisi’s clients planned to live in the Netherlands for at least 10 years and 50% for more than 20 years. “People think that expats come to the Netherlands to cash in, get a tax break and then move to another country,” Aziz said. “But that is not the case.”

Internationals also made offers on more properties before succeeding, bidding on an average of three homes compared with 2.3 for Dutch buyers. People born outside the Netherlands are also more likely to understand that taking a mortgage to buy a house is a financial risk, according to the survey.