Dutch House Price Growth Slowed to 3.3% in August as the Index Edged Down

Dutch existing homes cost 3.3% more in August than a year earlier, down from 3.9% in July. The index fell 0.1% on the month; the average sale was EUR 503,523.

The average price of an existing owner-occupied home in the Netherlands was 3.3% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, down from 3.9% in July, and 0.1% lower than in the previous month. The national statistics office and the land registry, which compile the index together, published the August figures on 22 September 2026. The average dwelling changed hands for EUR 503,523.

A cooling that has run for almost two years

Annual growth peaked at 11.5% in January 2025 and has eased in almost every month since. The 2026 path reads 5.4% in January, 5.4% in February, 5.0% in March, 4.3% in April, 4.4% in May, 4.1% in June, 3.9% in July and 3.3% in August. One upward blip, in May, sits inside an otherwise steady descent. The statistics office puts it plainly: the annual increase has been slowing almost continuously since the end of 2024.

The index itself stood at 156.6 in August against a base of 100 in 2020. That is 17.8% above the previous peak of July 2022, and a long way above the low of June 2013 from which the current upswing began. What has stopped is the acceleration, not the price level.

Sales fell in August, but the year is still ahead

18,886 homes changed hands in August 2026, 2.9% fewer than in August 2025. That is only the second year-on-year decline of 2026; the other was May, at 2.5%. Across the first eight months, 156,028 homes changed owners, more than 4% above the same period of 2025.

Monthly transaction counts are noisy. The 2025 series swung between 1.4% and 28.8% year on year, so a single negative month carries less information than the eight-month total, which is still positive.

What the price level means for buyers and landlords

Measured per square metre rather than per dwelling, Dutch homes trade at roughly USD 5,560, on median transaction prices from agents' second-quarter data. Free-sector asking rents of about USD 22.40 per square metre a month put the gross rental yield near 4.8%, dropping to roughly 3.1% once the effective tax on rental income is applied. Prices sit about 110% above their level of ten years ago.

For a buyer, the practical reading is that the Dutch market has moved from a sprint to a walk without changing direction. For a landlord the arithmetic is tighter: the tax wedge alone removes more than a third of the gross income, and the remaining 3.1% still has to cover maintenance, vacancy and management before anything reaches the owner. At present, capital growth of 3.3% a year is doing more work in the total return than rent is.

That combination of a high entry price, a thin post-tax yield and growth that has more than halved since the start of 2025 is why the Dutch market still reads as richly valued rather than cheap. The next test is whether August's dip repeats. One month below zero sits inside the normal noise of a monthly index; a run of them would be a different signal altogether.

Sources: Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and Kadaster, Price increase of existing owner-occupied homes slows further in August, 22 September 2026 https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2026/39/price-increase-of-existing-owner-occupied-homes-slows-further-in-august

Market data: Netherlands