House prices in Amsterdam exceeded 2008’s peak in the first quarter. The prices show “the tense situation” in the housing market in the capital of the Netherlands: too few new houses come on the market, Bloomberg reported. Amsterdam is also leaving the rest of the country in its dust: The average Dutch house is still 15% cheaper than peak prices. 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 organization had expected a slowdown 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 ($252,529), 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%.
