Average rent in Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht (Netherlands) 2010-2021

Rent prices per square meter in the largest Dutch cities decreased in 2020, the first significant decrease observed in several years. Regardless, Amsterdam remained the most expensive city to live in, averaging a monthly rent of 21.76 euros per square meter for residential real estate in the private rental sector. Monthly rents in Utrecht were around four euros cheaper per square meter. Both cities were above the average rent price of residential property in the Netherlands overall, whereas Rotterdam and The Hague were slightly below that.

Buying versus renting, what do the Dutch prefer?

The Netherlands is one of Europe’s leading countries when it comes to home ownership, having funded this with a mortgage. In 2019, around 60 percent of Dutch individuals/individuals living in the Netherlands were homeowners. This is because Dutch homeowners were able to for many years to deduct interest paid from pre-tax income (a system known in the Netherlands as hypotheekrenteaftrek). This resulted in the Netherlands having one of the largest mortgage debts across the European continent. Total mortgage debt of Dutch households reached a value of approximately 734 billion euros in 2019.

Is the Dutch housing market overheating?

There are several indicators for the Netherlands that allow to investigate whether the housing market is overheating or not. These, however, give mixed signals. House price indices corrected for inflation in the Netherlands suggest, for example, that prices are close to the same level as before the financial crisis in 2008. The Netherlands’ house-price-to-rent-ratio, on the other hand, had not reached the pre-crisis level in 2019. These figures, however, are believed to be significantly higher for cities like Amsterdam, as it was suggested for a long time that the prices of owner-occupied houses were increasing faster than rents in the private rental sector.