There are increasingly strong signals that the Dutch housing market is beginning to cool down, ABN Amro economists said on Wednesday.

House prices are rising less sharply and the number of properties changing hands is decreasing, which indicate falling confidence in the market, economist Philip Bekeloh said.

Consumers don’t consider this to be the right time to buy a new house and the decline in supply means it is harder to find a suitable and affordable home, he said in a website briefing.

The ABN Amro economist forecasts that the number of homes changing hands will fall by 5% while price rises will slow to 6% a year. This also has to be set against a backdrop of lower GDP growth, Bekeloh said.

National statistics agency CBS said last month house prices were up 9% in January, compared with the year earlier period and the average price has now gone above €300,000 for the first time.

House prices are now 36% higher than in June 2013, at the height of the economic crisis, and 6.5% up on their August 2008 peak, the CBS said.