(Bloomberg) — Home prices in the Netherlands rose the most in two years in August as the country is struggling with a severe housing shortage.
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The prices jumped by about 11% in the period from a year earlier, according to data published by the Dutch statistics agency on Monday. The average transaction price for existing houses was €466,207 ($517,770), the agency said.
The Netherlands, which is one of Europe’s most densely populated countries, has been navigating a housing crisis in recent years as the growth in population has outpaced an increase in dwellings. House prices in the country have been on the rise since mid last year after being subdued for several months due to an increase in mortgage rates.
A new rental act designed to make homes more affordable amplified the distress in the market, leading to rent controls on 300,000 units in July and making it unprofitable for many landlords to lease their homes.
The Dutch government wants to build 100,000 homes ever year and will spend €5 billion over the next five years to stimulate construction. Housing Minister Mona Keijzer vowed to do this by removing obstacles to “construction and scrapping unnecessary rules where possible.”
The number of transactions for existing homes rose 12% to 17,915 units in August, the statistics agency said. The prices rose 1.1% from July.
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