Dutch house prices drop

Dutch house prices have dropped 0.4 percent compared to a year ago. It is the first price drop since 1995.

Dutch house prices for February show a 0.5 percent drop compared to the same time last year, the central bureau for statistics (CBS) reports. It is the first price drop since the CBS started measuring house prices in 1995.

The CBS figures show that practically all house types were cheaper in February 2009 than in February 2008. Corner houses and apartments showed the sharpest drop. Only attached houses became slightly more expensive. Rentals dropped by 1.1 percent compared to January 2009.

The Dutch real estate market was already showing a slowing rise in 2008. In January, prices were still up 1.2 percent. In February, the number of houses sold on the market dropped for the fourth month in a row, this time by 41 percent compared to a year ago.

North Brabant and Overijssel are the only provinces where house prices went up in February. The number of houses sold was down in all provinces. The sharpest drop in both house prices and houses sold was in Friesland.