Houses are being sold increasingly quickly and in the Amsterdam-Leiden-Utrecht area and in Groningen city the market is performing well above average, according to the Dutch estate agents’ association NVM.

The organisation had expected a slow down in 2016 after 2015’s growth. However, some 35,000 homes changed hands in the first three months of 2016, a rise of 20% on a year ago. The average house price has gone up 5.5% to €225,000, and is now just 9% down on 2008’s record.

In Amsterdam, however, house prices have risen 20% while the number of houses changing hands has fallen 2%. ‘The market here is literally boiling over,’ NVM chairman Ger Hukker said in a statement.

‘Consumers are paying increasingly high prices for homes in old city centres,’ he said. Youngsters and single people are also finding it increasingly difficult to buy because of the high prices and tougher rules on mortgages, the NVM chairman said.